Awakened
by The Sensational SpiderDom321
Summary: Chaos strikes thanks to one's foolish actions, leading to the awakening of Synergy: A lost Gizoid who's bent on conquering the world. Imperialism is on his mind and power is in his hands. Not wanting his home to be ruled by a dictatorship, Sonic gathers old and new allies to stop their new foe, but Dr. Eggman has his own agendas. {Co-written by Infinite's Ruby} (IDW Comics AU)
1. The Underground Tomb

_**A/N:** Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Awakened: A Sonic the Hedgehog story I made based off of the Games and the IDW Comic Book Series. This is something I made a while back, but sadly, I had to delete it due to some personal issues I faced with my computer and my stories. So, here it is! Back again! Special thanks to Infinite's Ruby for proof-reading this, thanks to TGN for the title, and thanks to all of my friends for supporting me through this project!_

 _Before we begin, I want to explain one thing. On my old account, I've always liked to incorporate music into certain scenes to make them more dramatic. The rules are easy. if you see a number such as **(1)** that is your cue to play the music. If you see a number with the letter "s" at the end, **(1s)** that is when you stop the music._

 _Disclaimer: Sonic the Hedgehog and all other related properties belong to SEGA (All IDW Characters belong to SEGA and IDW Comics)_

 _Without further ado, enjoy the show!_

 _ **Suggested Music:**_

 _ **(1) Boss Battle (Day) - Sonic Unleashed OST**_

 _ **(2) Egg Dragoon - Sonic Unleashed OST or Egg Dragoon - Sonic Generations OST**_

 _ **(3) Sylvania Castle Zone Act 2 - Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2 OST**_

 _ **(4) Eggman Boss Theme (Ruby Delusions) - Sonic Mania (Plus) OST**_

 _ **(5) Act Clear - Sonic Mania (Plus) OST**_

* * *

 **The Underground Tomb**

The sun rose high above the blue skies of one of Mobius' most peaceful and beautiful locations; the Sylvania Castle Zone. As the name implies, the place is an ancient, booby-trapped castle which has been flooded by the vast blue waters over the years. The Zone combines the aspects of an old temple with a wide-open forest and crystal-clear waters, almost bearing strong similarities to Aquatic Ruin Zone and Marble Garden Zone.

But despite looking so beautiful, traps for any intruders swarmed the place from inside and out.

The cold autumn wind blew across the grass, brushing against the various roses and tulips that grew from the fertile soil below. A few animals and other plants have become adjusted to its climates and traps over time, which is why most plants grow away from the temples and the animals set up their habitats in the forest.

Many large temples stood out from every corner of the forest, shadowing parts of the sun's light, creating many shady spots for animals to take peaceful naps.

A family of rabbits paced over to the shadowy spot and prepared to take the longest nap they've ever taken. The mother and the father showered their two children with tender kisses, as they closed their eyes and wished each other a good nap.

Unfortunately for them, their slumber was rudely interrupted by the sound of a truck horn. _**(1)**_

Honk. Honk. Honk. The sound of the horn grew louder and louder, blasting through the eardrums of the rabbits' children.

Suddenly, a large truck that was shaped like the Egg Mobile; the Egg Monster, blasted through the trees and slammed down on the ground, the tires shot out grass that ricocheted off the walls of the temple. The Egg Monster then drove away as fast as it could, leaving the rabbits petrified.

The truck's driver, Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik turned the steering wheel to the left, making a sharp turn that almost knocked his lackeys, Orbot and Cubot, over the side.

The latter crashed into the former.

"Dr. Eggman!" the yellow cube-shaped drone pleaded. He cupped his hands over his mouth. "Slow down, please! I think I'm gonna be sick!"

"Nonsense!" Dr. Eggman snarled. He made a rough right turn. "You're robots! You can't feel illness!"

"Hey!" Orbot shouted in anger.

"He's right," Cubot moaned.

"Will the both of you shut up!" their boss ordered with a growl. "I'm trying to concentrate!"

Both robots obeyed their master before they looked over their shoulders.

Behind the Egg Monster was a large wagon strapped to the back of the vehicle; a red wagon that sat a large silver and gold canister that contained many animals. Dr. Eggman was planning to use these animals as a fuel source for his Badnik Horde, something that a certain someone couldn't allow. That, someone, was the most innocent girl in all of Mobius; Cream the Rabbit and her good companion, Cheese.

The two of them were strapped to the back of the canister by a metal chain. The two struggled to get out, but they were afraid of the speeding vehicle mistiming their landing, either resulting in broken bones or worse-case scenario; death.

The cream-colored rabbit turned to her blue and yellow companion, she noticed the worried look in his eyes.

"Hang on, Cheese!" she tried to tell him gently, but because of how rough Dr. Eggman was treating the road, she felt her voice break between her words. "We'll be out of here soon!"

"Chao, Chao!" Cheese replied. He still shook because of how hard the Egg Monster ran over the grass, causing many flowers to die underneath the truck's weight.

Just as Dr. Eggman made another left, he heard another horn deafen his ears. He screamed in annoyance and rubbed the back of his ears. Orbot and Cubot looked behind them and screamed, reaching the highest pitch their voices could go.

"Will you two stop screaming!?" Dr. Eggman shouted. "My ears already hurt from the-"

The evil doctor cut himself off because of something he'd hoped he would never see. "Oh, no," he said. "It's _them!_ "

Out of the blue with a dark blue race car called the Speed Star, Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower, and Amy Rose shot out of the forest and chased after Dr. Eggman. The three of them were rescuing Cream, Cheese, and the animals enslaved by Eggman.

The two-tailed kitsune was driving the car, the pink hammer-wielder was sitting in the front row seat, and the fastest thing alive was in the back of the car, standing up on his two feet. He got down into a squatting position and grabbed onto the red leather chairs, feeling the heavy wind blow slap against his quills thanks to the increase in the Speed Star's acceleration.

It didn't take long for the three Freedom Fighters to catch up to their foe.

"Pull over, Eggman!" Sonic shouted. "You're getting a ticket!"

"A ticket?" Dr. Eggman asked. "For _what!?_ "

"For going faster than me!"

After hearing that comment come from her crush, Amy slapped Sonic's leg. Sonic rubbed his leg and shrugged his shoulders.

"What? I'm the one who should be going ridiculously fast!"

Amy rolled her eyes. "Eggman, either let Cream go, or I'll bash your face in!"

"You have to catch up to me first, Pinkie!"

The mad doctor slammed his gas pedal and drove down the road, the tires shot more globs of dirt into the air. A moment later, he pressed a button on his control console and watched as two large missile cannons popped out the sides of his monster truck.

The cannons faced the other direction and aimed at the Speed Star.

" _Fire!_ "

The missiles shot out faster than a speeding bullet, smoke and fire spewed from the exhaust pipes on the back of them. A large Eggman logo was printed on the side of each missile.

The two-tailed fox steered the wheel to the left and avoided the missiles, he soon turned it to the right. He zig-zagged his way out of the rainfall of explosions. Sonic and Amy grabbed onto the side of the Speed Star, hoping that they don't fall off until they made it out of the storm.

They eventually got back to where they were before; behind Dr. Eggman.

"Keep it steady, Tails," Sonic gave his best friend a thumbs up. "I'm going in!"

"Be careful, Sonic!" Tails said.

"When am I never?"

Tails and Amy shared a sarcastic glance with each other, they knew Sonic is not one to have the word, careful in his dictionary. The blue hedgehog jumped off the Speed Star and landed on the back of the wagon, right in front of Cream and Cheese. The two of them were happy to see their blue hero.

"Mr. Sonic!" Cream shouted politely.

"Just Sonic will do. Mr. Sonic's my father."

Cream giggled at the hedgehog's joke, as she watched him jump on top of the silver canister. He was looking for a way to get her free.

Up. Down. Left. Right. He searched for any kind of lock he could pick, but there wasn't one in sight. Luckily, he was a Mobian that had sharp spines, so he had a different idea.

"Hold still, Cream!"

"Okay!"

Sonic revved up his classic move; the Spin Dash and penetrated through the chains like a hot knife through butter. The rabbit and her companion were set free. They landed in Sonic's arms.

"Chao, Chao!" Cheese cried with joy, hugging Sonic's face.

"Thank you, Mr. Sonic!" said Cream. She hugged him too.

"Just doing what I do best," the hedgehog winked. He looked at Amy, who was standing on top of her seat on her own two feet. "Amy, catch!"

Sonic tossed Cream and Cheese up in the sky and watched them fly through the air. The both of them landed in Amy's arms. The pink hedgehog sat them down into the back seat and strapped on their seatbelts.

"You okay, Cream?" Amy asked.

"Yeah, I'm okay, Ms. Rose!"

"Chao, Chao!"

Amy wiped a streak of sweat off her forehead. She sat down in her chair. "Let's finish this, Tails!"

"I couldn't agree more, Amy!" Tails saluted her. He slammed on his gas pedal.

Dr. Eggman turned over his shoulder and saw that Sonic was giving his friends two thumbs up. He growled at the sight of his enemy and decided to make this fight personal. He got up from his chair, grabbed a screwdriver, and started marching towards the back.

"Orbot, Cubot, take the wheel!"

"W-what!?" Orbot blanched in fear. "I-I can't drive!"

"I can!" Cubot slammed his behind on the gas pedal, gripping the wheel with the both of his hands. "I've always wanted to drive!"

After the yellow robot slammed the pedal, the Egg Monster pushed farther up the road, making Sonic and Dr. Eggman fall over.

The former sprung himself up while Dr. Eggman rolled over, gripping onto the railing of the wagon. Pushing himself up, he stormed over to Sonic. _**(1s)**_

"Now, then," Sonic wiped his hands off, walking to the animal cage. "It's time to-whoa!" _**(2)**_

Dr. Eggman swatted his makeshift weapon at Sonic, he missed. Sonic dodged out of the way and avoided another attack, landing on the railing. Dr. Eggman swatted at him again, but due to how fast he was, Sonic evaded his attack.

Landing behind Eggman, Sonic turned over his shoulder and chuckled. "What's wrong, Egghead? No boss battle for me to fight? I know you have another version of the Egg Nega Wisp hiding somewhere!"

"I decided to make this one personal, Sonic!" Dr. Eggman pulled his weapon-holding arm back. He fired it down on Sonic. "Today, you will meet your doom!"

"Said every bad guy ever!" Sonic formed his arms into the shape of an X, blocking Eggman's attack.

He then kicked the fat scientist in the shin and punched him in the gut. Dr. Eggman fell backward against the wagon's side. Just as the hero lunged at his villain, the latter kicked the former in the chest. Sonic's back crashed into the canister's wall and landed on his chest.

The chubby madman picked Sonic up by his quills and swatted at him again, but Sonic blocked the screwdriver and kicked Eggman in the face, releasing himself from his clutches.

Dr. Eggman swatted at Sonic again and again, but the blue blur dodged every attack, except for a solid kick to the face. He landed on the ground and felt the weight of Dr. Eggman's left foot crush his chest. It felt as if a thousand rocks were piled on top of him.

"Any last words, Sonic!?" Dr. Eggman pulled his arm back again, his screwdriver was anxious to hit Sonic's face.

"Yeah... what time is it?"

"I don't know. What?"

Sonic smirked for a moment of silence. "Hammer time!"

"What? That doesn't make any sense- _argh!_ "

A pink Spinball homing attacked Eggman and sent him flying into the main part of the Egg Monster. He saw that Cubot was still driving.

The identity of the pink ball was revealed to be Amy Rose, holding her Piko Piko Hammer in hand. She smiled at her true love and shot him a wink.

"Thanks, Ames,"

"You're welcome. You owe me a date for that."

"Why do I owe you a date for not getting killed by Eggman?"

"Oh, come on, Sonic! It's the least you can do for me."

"Amy... you're a real piece of work."

Amy rolled her eyes and chuckled at Sonic's joke. She fired back. "So are you!"

"If you guys are done flirting with each other, can we save the animals?" Tails shouted from behind them, he was still driving.

Sonic and Amy rolled their emerald green eyes at his comment and proceeded to walk up to Eggman, who had one last trick up his sleeve.

"Move over, idiot!" Dr. Eggman pushed Cubot out of the way and took control of his vehicle. He saw a rainbow-colored button in the middle of the control console, it had a black-colored diagram of a car boosting down the road. "Time for a change of pace!"

As soon as the doctor slammed his pointer finger onto the button, the car suddenly went faster than it ever did before. Dr. Eggman might say that he was going so fast, he could outrun both Sonic the Hedgehog and Shadow the Hedgehog.

When the Egg Monster was increasing in speed, Amy's fur lung back, she felt the find push against her, which eventually knocked her down. She was about to go flying off the wagon until Sonic wrapped his fingers around her wrist, stamping his other hand around the railing.

The Egg Monster was going so fast, Tails had to step his foot all the way down on the gas pedal. But he wasn't fast enough to catch up to his teammates.

"Sonic, don't let go!"

"W-why o-o-on M-mobius would I-I l-let go!" Sonic's scream shook due to the high velocity he was going at. He should be used to this type of speed, but he would rather be going fast by his own means than through Eggman's.

Tails suddenly reached behind him and pulled out his red walkie-talkie, he pressed the button and spoke into it.

"Mighty, Ray! This is Tails! Come in, guys, over!" _**(2s)**_

* * *

 _ **(3)**_

On the other side of the Sylvania Castle Zone, two Mobians were sitting in the grassy fields, feeling the autumn wind stroke against their skin. The grass brushed beside their feet and the sun shined down upon them, giving whoever saw a glimpse of them a sight of their true identities.

They were known as Mighty the Armadillo and Ray the Flying-Squirrel.

The former was sitting peacefully in the grass, meditating to keep himself from thinking too much about violence while his best friend, Ray, was pacing back and forth. He had butterflies in his stomach because of the mission he was about to go on. He remembered Sonic calling him and Mighty and asking them for their help not too long ago.

Not having seen Sonic since their trip to Eggman Island, the dynamic duo agreed to help their best friend, but they didn't expect to be sitting on the sideline for now.

Mighty was glad he got a chance to relax and forest bath in the zone, mainly because he was one that detested violence unless if it was necessary. Ray, on the other hand, was in the mood for action, but he was also nervous for action. Why is that the case?

Hearing his best friend moan in shyness, Mighty lifted an eye up and asked his best friend this question: "Ray, are you okay?"

"H-huh?" Ray paused. His feet became static. "S-sorry, Mighty. I'm j-just really n-nervous."

"Nervous?" Mighty raised his eyebrow. "Why?"

"W-what if w-we miss the s-signal!? What if Dr. E-Eggman g-gets away!? All those poor animals... they're going to get robotized!"

"Ray, Ray, Ray... relax... we're not going to miss the signal. Sonic's best friend, Tails, said that he's going to call us when Eggman shows up to this spot."

"R-right... t-thank you, Mighty... by the way, are you o-okay with doing this?"

"What do you mean?"

"Are you okay with using v-violence?"

Mighty nodded his head and smiled at his best friend. The flying-squirrel knew the armadillo was a pacifist and the latter knew the former highly respected that. Mighty got up from the ground and wrapped his arm around his best friend.

"Ray, listen to me... As much as I hate violence, I am willing to use it to help others. Remember that time we were on Eggman Island? I had to use every ounce of my strength to help you and Sonic."

"R-Right, I remember t-that."

"I appreciate your concern for me, Ray, but I'm comfortable with using violence against Eggman. But I'll be all right if you're up to it."

Ray stood for a moment of silence before he smiled. He tightened his blue scarf and placed down his blue goggles. "Y-yes! L-let's d-do it t-to it!"

Mighty adjusted his black and brown gloves and shoes before he gave his best friend a thumbs up.

Just then, the two got what they've been asking for; the signal.

Ray took out a red walkie-talkie and pressed the button. "H-hello?"

 _"Mighty, Ray, this is Tails! Do you copy, over?"_

"W-we read you loud and c-clear, o-over!"

 _"Dr. Eggman's coming over to you, but be careful, he's going fast!"_

"How fast?" Mighty asked. _**(3s)**_

 _ **(4)**_ The armadillo got his answer when he heard Sonic, Amy, Orbot, and Cubot screaming and shouting. Dr. Eggman's vehicle pushed by the fields, leaving a long streak of dirt and tire tracks wherever the truck went.

Mighty and Ray looked at each other before the former replied back to the fox: "Say no more, Tails," he said. "We're on it!"

The duo raced over the hills and tried their best to catch up to Dr. Eggman. They were running as fast as Sonic, but even that level of speed couldn't get them to catch up to the Egg Monster.

"T-this isn't w-working, Mighty!" Ray squealed.

"We're gonna have to try a different approach!" Mighty grinned. "Ray, toss me above that thing as hard as you can!"

Ray obeyed his friend's command and swung his tail backward. He wrapped it around Mighty's black and brown glove. Extending his yellow wings, Ray took to the skies like an airplane with Mighty as his only passenger.

Within a few seconds, Ray spun around in a complete three-hundred-sixty and shot Mighty across the blue skies above, the clouds poked the armadillo's nose. Mighty rolled into a ball used his shell to aim himself downward.

He descended through the clouds and prepared to divebomb the Egg Mobile.

As Orbot and Cubot did their best to hang onto their seats, Cubot felt a large shadow loom over his body. He looked up and saw a red spinball aiming towards him.

"Boss!" Cubot pointed to the sky.

"Silence!" Dr. Eggman replied with a snarl. "Can't you see I'm... why is there a shadow over me?"

He looked up and saw the same thing Cubot saw. He gulped. "Mommy." _**(4s)**_

Sonic and Amy homing attacked the animal canister and pushed it off of the wagon. They, themselves, jumped off as well and started flying in the air. Mighty slam-dunked himself smack in the middle of Eggman's vehicle, which resulted in not only an explosion, but Dr. Eggman, Orbot, and Cubot also shot all the way across the grassy fields.

The animal cage landed on the ground with a loud clang. Sonic landed on top of the yellow button, Amy landed right into his arms. The mechanism was pushed down, and all of the animals were set free. _**(5)**_

 _ **(5s)**_ Rabbits. Pigs. Birds. Every animal species Eggman kidnapped jumped out of their prison and ran as far as they could.

Tails pulled over the Speed Star and jumped out of the front seat. He, Cream, and Cheese joined Ray in flying over to Sonic and Amy.

Dr. Eggman and his two lackeys skyrocketed across the azure skies above, but before they could land on the ground and become pancakes, the mad doctor pressed the golden square in the top right corner of his jacket. He activated a jetpack that sprung out of the back of his jacket.

Grabbing Orbot and Cubot by their hands, he flew all the way across Sylvania Castle Zone until he saw a possible way of escape; there was a large doorway in the middle of one of the zone's temples. Dr. Eggman turned over his shoulder and growled at Sonic.

He flew right through the door.

"Eggman!" Sonic shouted. He dropped Amy and jumped off of the canister.

"Hey!" Amy waved her fist and shouted.

Sonic ran past Mighty, which caused him to spin around in a circle. The armadillo fell down and watched as Sonic jumped over a hill and ran for the door. He also watched as Amy Rose ran past him, shaking her fist around.

"Sonic the Hedgehog, you come back here!"

The blue blur ran inside the temple, and homing attacked Dr. Eggman, causing him to drop Orbot and Cubot. Before Amy can enter as well, the door rained down.

"Look out, Amy!" Mighty grabbed Amy and pulled her out of the way. Orbot and Cubot evaded the door as well and landed beside the pink hedgehog.

The door slammed shut, locking everyone out.

Tails, Cream, Cheese, and Ray rushed over to the temple door and looked up at it. It was a large brown and golden door that had ancient markings on it; markings of old civilizations building their landmarks.

Tails and Amy looked for a way inside, but they couldn't find anything.

Cream and Cheese flew above to see if there was a hidden door to the inside. There wasn't.

Mighty and Ray looked around as well, but they also had no success.

The same with Orbot and Cubot.

"There's no other way in!" Tails worried. He slammed on the door, which caused him to hurt his hands. "Sonic's trapped!"

"Not for long!" Mighty pulled his fist back and took a heavy punch at the door, a crack was heard from the inside of his wrist. " _Argh!_ " He collapsed on the ground and shook his wrist.

"M-Mighty!, are y-you o-okay?" Ray asked in worry.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Mighty got back up and shook his wrist. "Never had _that_ happen to me before. I know I hate violence, but I _know_ I can hit hard."

Tails took out his Miles Electric and scanned the door. A couple pieces of code popped up on his screen. They were all red. "Odd... nothing's coming up in my Miles Electric. I'm not sure what type of stone makes up this door."

"Well, one thing's for certain, it's strong enough to take my punch."

"Oh, no!" Cream startled. "Mr. Sonic's trapped!"

"So is Dr. Eggman!" Cubot cupped his hands over his mouth. He and Orbot were scared at first before they randomly took out party hats and slapped them on top of their heads. They also took out party horns and began singing and dancing with joy.

"We're free! Free I tell you!" Cubot danced with the uttermost glee in his tone. "I can finally buy a houseboat and live on it! Even though it's a boat!"

"And I can finally finish my memoirs!" Orbot smiled. "I've been told I'm a natural recontour."

"And I've been told I'm a neutral raccoon!"

Orbot and Cubot danced happily away from the temple, leaving the flying squirrel to wallow in his own fear. He began to shiver as if he was cold, but thankfully, Amy was there to warm him up.

"W-what are we g-gonna d-do!?" Ray worried. "S-Sonic's trapped in there!"

"Don't worry, Ray," Amy smiled and comforted the small squirrel. "I know Sonic well, he'll be fine. We're gonna get him out, I promise." _Sonic... please be okay in there._

* * *

Darkness rose from the bottom to the top of the mysterious underground temple. The only sources of light came from bright orange torches that were hooked up to chains from the ceiling and were also welded to the walls. The temple was covered in many gold, silver, and brown colors that made every sculpture of ancient civilizations stand out.

Unfortunately, Sonic the Hedgehog and Dr. Eggman were busy fighting each other to sit down and appreciate all the hard work that went into the temple. The former leaped up and homing attacked the latter's jetpack again, causing him to stumble around in the air.

"Will you stop doing that!" Dr. Eggman demanded. He shook his fist in the air. "It's getting on my nerves!"

"You're not gonna lose me, Egghead!" Sonic jumped into Eggman's jetpack again.

" _Eggman!_ You know my name is _Dr. Eggman!_ You do that on purpose!"

"Do what, Egghead?"

The fat egg-shaped man reached into his pocket and took out two laser guns; the same models that Egg Robos use. He twirled them around and aimed them at Sonic, shooting yellow orbs of energy at his enemy.

"Die, you pesticide!"

Sonic jumped over the orbs and ran across the walls, reaching up to the ceiling. He jumped off the top of the wall and tackled Dr. Eggman. The two of them began to fight mid-air, crashing into pieces of statues, bumping against the ceiling from time to time, and they also smacked each other's faces against the stone statues.

The blue blur punched the mad doctor a few times before Dr. Eggman slapped Sonic across the face. He grabbed the hedgehog's quills and yanked them, but Sonic grabbed Eggman's mustache and pulled it.

"Let go, hedgehog!"

"You let go!"

"I told you first!"

"Well, I thought about it before you said it!"

"Liar!"

Sonic and Dr. Eggman fought each other until the blue hedgehog gasped. "Uh, Eggman," he said.

"What do you want!?" Dr. Eggman shouted.

"Look!"

Dr. Eggman looked ahead and gasped as well because a giant brown and gold pillar was waiting for them to crash into it. The two of them screamed before they turned to the left, coming face to face with another structure.

"Let me drive!" Sonic climbed on Eggman's shoulders and grabbed his mustache. He turned Eggman's head left and protected himself from getting smacked by a pillar.

He continued to steer himself and Eggman down the room, filled with nothing but large pillars and torches.

"Let go of my mustache, Sonic!"

"No way, I'm driving!"

"I'm not a car! Get off me!"

Dr. Eggman slapped Sonic across the face and turned over on his stomach, flying across the temple as if he was a superman.

Luckily, Sonic was able to grab onto Eggman's foot, saving himself from falling onto the stone cold ground.

He swung back and forth, trying to climb Dr. Eggman's back, but his tan-colored arms were too short to reach the top. Dr. Eggman rocked his foot up and down, hoping to shake his arch-nemesis off of him.

"Let go of my foot!"

"Buzz off, Egghead!" Sonic suddenly gasped. "Look out!... Again!"

Dr. Eggman jerked his head to the front, finding himself introduced to another pillar in his line of sight. He and Sonic gasped before they turned to the right, but their reaction was delayed by a second. Because of this, the left wing of the jetpack broke off, causing Sonic and Dr. Eggman to plummet to the ground.

Bash. Smash. Crash. Both the hero and the villain tumbled across the floor on their sides, feeling the pain of rocks poke them from their stomachs to their waists. The two eventually bounced in the air due to how fast they were tumbling down the hallway.

Sonic finally landed on his back while Dr. Eggman landed on his chest.

The fight between them finally ended. The two of them got their chance to rest.

Breathing heavily and panting like a dog, Dr. Eggman got up and brushed the dirt off of his pants. He took his jacket and rubbed the pebbles off.

Sonic planted his hands on the ground and pushed himself upward. Brushing off his arms and legs, he walked over to Dr. Eggman.

"Well, that was quite a wild ride."

"Shut up!" Dr. Eggman replied with an angry snarl. "Just _shut up,_ you _idiot!_ "

"Eggy, this is no time to panic!"

"This is the _perfect time to panic!_ I'm _trapped_ , the Egg Monster is destroyed, we have little to no way of escape and it's all _your_ fault!"

"What!? _My_ fault! If you hadn't kidnapped Cream, Cheese, and those animals in the first place-!"

" _Grr!_ Yeah, well, if _you_ hadn't shown up with your stupid little Freedom Fighter buddies, _none of this would have happened!_ "

"Oh, well, excuse me for doing what I do best; kicking you around and watching you shake your fist, shouting _'I hate that meddling hedgehog!'_ That's you, Egghead! That's what you sound like! A little girl when she doesn't get her red glitter slippers!"

Dr. Eggman shook his hands in a motion that looked like he was about to strangle Sonic. He waved his hands in the air and paced back and forth, growling and snarling as if he was a hungry predator out of prey.

He then stormed over to the pillar he crashed into and punched it, which only hurt himself than the pole. He then kicked the pillar and met the same result. Stumbling back in pain, Dr. Eggman tripped and fell on his rear end, picking up a pebble and chucking it across the hallway.

Crack. It landed on the ground.

Dr. Eggman huffed and puffed until he looked over at Sonic, who was sitting on his side, leaning his head on his hand.

"Hey, Mr. Grumpy Stache," he smiled, mocking his arch-nemesis.

Dr. Eggman kept puffing, he turned his head to the side.

Sonic then spoke in his normal voice. "You wanna know how to get out of here?" he asked.

"How am I gonna get out of here?"

"Let me tell you something, as much as I enjoy going fast, I like to slow down once in a while and take a good look at the environment I'm exploring."

"What's your point exactly?"

"If we want to escape, we gotta look around. See if there are any hidden clues around here."

"That... is a _stupid_ idea!" Dr. Eggman brushed his jacket and got up from his pity chair; the rocks. "Look at this place! It's _huge!_ You're not going to find _'clues'_ or _'exits'_ around here! We're stuck here! I'm not going with your idea! If anything, it'll get us killed!"

"All right, suit yourself." Sonic jumped on his feet and walked around the tomb's hallway, looking for any clues, hidden passages, and/or exits that will lead them to freedom.

After a few seconds of silence, Dr. Eggman sat back down and folded his arms, pouting. His fingers slowly crawled over his eyes, as he sulked into his own self-pity.

It was obvious he hated the fact he was stuck in a temple, especially with his arch-enemy. He wanted to get out of here soon, so he can go back to his headquarters and plan his next move. He hasn't pulled a stunt like the one he pulled earlier ever since he lost one of the greatest schemes of all time; the Phantom Ruby War.

He hoped that kidnapping a bunch of animals across different zones and using them as Badnik fuel would help him rebuild his army after Sonic and the Resistance trashed everything he had, but thanks to the blue hedgehog and his band of heroes, all of that went down the drain.

Letting out a low sigh, he raised his head from his hands and heard Sonic's stomping echoing across the temple.

It was clear the hedgehog was looking hard for clues and he stopped at nothing to find them.

This annoyed Dr. Eggman.

"Hey, hedgehog! Could you stomp any louder!? You're not going to find anything!"

"I found something!"

"Wow... talk about lazy writing."

The fat doctor sat up and walked behind Sonic, he looked over the hedgehog's shoulder and asked him, "What did you find?"

He got his answer when he saw that Sonic had found footprints; muddy footprints. They lead to a giant door in front of the two of them, one that could possibly lead to the way out.

"Looks interesting enough," Sonic said. He cracked his fingers and cracked his neck. "Let's do it to it."

Sonic and Dr. Eggman walked to the door, but as soon as they got to it, they noticed that it had no doorknob nor a lever. Instead, what they saw were two golden buttons on the side of it. Dr. Eggman walked to the right and pressed the button, Sonic pressed the left one.

The door did nothing.

The two pressed their buttons again.

The door did nothing again.

"Okay, I got an idea," Sonic said. "Let's do it together. On the count of three."

Dr. Eggman pressed his hand on the button, so did Sonic.

"One... two... three!"

The two pressed the buttons at the same time and heard a strange crumbling coming through the walls. The ground was shaking, and pebbles were falling from the ceiling, one of them fell on Dr. Eggman's head.

The door was finally open, but all it had to show Sonic and Dr. Eggman was nothing but a dark cavern. It looked like the hallway that they're in now, but this one had a lot more mud on the floor and vines were plastered all over the walls. The only sources of light were the torches on the ground.

Before the duo can walk down the stairs, Sonic decided to mess with Dr. Eggman one last time.

"You really think you can keep up with me?"

"I was able to outrun you in the past!"

"If you can't keep up, just sit back down."

Sonic started speed-walking down the stairs, leaving Dr. Eggman to make a personal comment.

"One of these days, I _will_ destroy you, you meddlesome hedgehog!"

Dr. Eggman followed Sonic into the pit of light and dark, following the footprints they hoped would lead them to escape.

 _ **END OF CHAPTER 1**_

* * *

 _Sonic and Dr. Eggman appear to be stuck in an ancient tomb, using footprints to find their way out. What will they find inside this ancient temple? What clues will they discover? What dangers will they face? How will Tails and the others find a way to break them out?_

 _Find out as we head into "Chapter 2: A Surprising Find."_

* * *

 _ **POST-A/N:**_

 _The Sylvania Castle Zone is the first zone that appears in a pretty underrated Sonic game titled "Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2." I love that stage because of its music and its level design. That and the bright colors on that stage really pop out to me. One of my favorite stages in that game aside from White Park and Death Egg Mk. ll._

 _Since I got Sonic Mania Plus for Christmas and I have been playing the heck out of it for my Nintendo Switch, I've decided to use Mighty the Armadillo and Ray the Flying-Squirrel for this story. The two of them are based on their Archie designs. Mighty's personality is based on his game incarnation, where he detests violence and forest bathes, while Ray is based on his Archie incarnation. Most particularly, the Pre-SGW version of Ray, where he was hyperactive, but he also stuttered a lot. I hope you guys don't mind that._

 _Cream and Cheese are characters that I feel need more love and attention. They haven't been in a Sonic game since Sonic Generations and Sonic Runners. They, along with other underrated/obscure Sonic characters will appear in this story._

 _The whole aspect of Sonic and Dr. Eggman being stuck inside a temple is inspired by Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. It's also inspired by a Sonic Boom episode titled "The Curse of the Buddy Buddy Temple" That's one of my favorite Sonic Boom episodes and the first temple in Uncharted is one of my favorite levels in the game._

 _Little reference to Sonic Forces thrown in there. Before anyone asks, No, Infinite will not appear in this story. He's already in another story of mine called "Sonic and the Secret Strikers." You should check that out if you're looking for a good Forces/Archie Comics mashup._

 _Dr. Eggman makes a small joke in here about how he was able to outrun Sonic in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 as well as Sonic 3 & Knuckles. How can a man that fat move freakin' fast!?_

 _Special thanks to TheGameNguyener for the title and Infinite's Ruby for helping me come up with ideas. As always, make sure you leave a favorite, follow, and a review if you want to share your thoughts. Let me what you liked and things that could be improved for the future._

 _I'm the Sensational SpiderDom321 and, I will see you all for Chapter 2! Peace out, web-heads!_


	2. A Surprising Find

_**A/N:** Special thanks to TGN, Infinite's Ruby, Alexandria Prime, Ultimate anarchy, TurquoiseTriangle, and SharpDragonKlaw for leaving a review and adding this story to their favorites. I am glad you guys are digging the adventure so far. Before we begin, I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year. I hope you all have had a safe Christmas vacation and I hope you all have a wonderful 2019!_

 _Special Shoutout to Infinite's Ruby for editing the chapter. She's awesome!_

 _Without further delay, enjoy the show!_

 _Disclaimer: Sonic the Hedgehog and all other related properties belong to SEGA (All IDW Characters belong to SEGA and IDW Comics)_

 _ **Suggested Music:**_

 _ **(1) Temple Trouble (Intro) – Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed OST**_

 _ **(2) King Dedede's Theme – Super Smash Bros. Brawl OST**_

 _ **(3) Moonlight Battlefield (Aqua Road) – Sonic Forces OST**_

 _ **(4) Steel Plated Faker – Sonic Mania Adventures Remix (Credit goes to Youtuber: Jahn Davis)**_

 _ **(5) Emerl's Theme – Sonic Battle OST**_

* * *

 **A Surprising Find**

Outside the temple, Miles "Tails" Prower and the others were standing by the door, the same door that locked Sonic and Dr. Eggman inside of an unknown temple. He and his team have been trying to get the door open for quite some time, but they couldn't find a way to blast it open.

Mighty tried punching it again with more strength put into his attack, but no matter how much of his strength was increased, the door wouldn't budge.

Cream and Cheese flew above the temple alongside Ray, hoping to look for another way in, but they found no success whatsoever.

They flew back down to Amy, who was helping Mighty bash the door down with her hammer, and gave her the bad news; there's no other way inside the temple. The pink hedgehog bowed her head in shame for a quick second before her determination took over her sadness. She smashed her weapon against the center of the door again, nothing happened.

"This is hopeless!" Amy slammed her hammer on the ground in rage. She picked it up and stomped over to Tails. "There's no way we're getting inside!"

"There's no other way in?" Tails asked.

"Sorry, Mr. Tails," Cream said. "Mr. Ray, Cheese, and I couldn't find anything above the temple."

"All of my strength couldn't knock it down!" Mighty shook his head. "The door didn't even move an inch!"

"Don't worry, guys," Tails said, motioning a _'calm down, guys,'_ motion with his hands. "We'll think of something... here's what I'm thinking. Since the door's made from an unknown material that's stronger than stone so we may have to use our combined strength to blast it open."

Tails snapped his fingers, as a lightbulb lit up in his head; he got an idea.

He ran over to the Speed Star. "We can use the weapons built into the Speed Star to blow it down, but we may need something else."

The second solution to Tails' problem came as soon as the heroes heard a loud boom in the sky, a sound that was as loud as an airplane engine. Ray shook his body at the sudden sound of that noise and hid behind Mighty's legs. The armadillo reached his arm over and rubbed his best friend's head.

Amy, Cream, and Cheese looked at the sky and smiled as soon as they saw the person who created the sound.

That person was not a person, it was Cream's good friend, G-merl: An advanced android who was once created by Dr. Eggman, defeated by Sonic, and reprogrammed by Tails to act like his predecessor, Emerl. The black and yellow colored peacemaker landed behind the Speed Star and greeted his friends with a wave.

"Knock, knock! Did somebody order an armed robot?"

"G-merl!" Tails smiled. "Thank goodness you're here! We could use your help!"

"Before that, Tails," Amy said. "How are you, G-merl? Did you take care of those Badniks Eggman sent after us when he kidnapped Cream?"

"You bet I did!" G-merl slammed his fist into his palm in happiness. "They didn't give me much of an issue. Though, I will say this,"

He reached behind him and took out the corpse of an old robot named Mecha Sonic, a robot used to steal the Master Emerald on Angel Island. G-merl held the body up by the back and showed his friends the damage he inflicted on Mecha Sonic.

"I don't think we're gonna be seeing _this_ guy anytime soon." he tossed the robot on the ground. This gave Cream and Cheese the perfect opportunity to run up to him and hug him. "Hey, kiddo, are you okay? You had me worried sick!"

"Sorry, G-merl," Cream bowed her head in shame. "I just wanted to save the animals trapped inside. Eggman was kidnapping them."

"I know, kiddo. I appreciate your kindness, but next time, try and be careful."

"Will do, G-merl!"

The robot rubbed the rabbit's head and leaned upward, facing the two-tailed fox. "Okay, Tails, what did you need help with?"

"When I give you a signal, I need you to help me blast open this door."

"Why? Are there Chaos Emeralds in there?"

"Sadly, no. Sonic and Eggman were fighting when suddenly, the two of them got locked inside this temple. We've been trying to get it open, but nothing's working."

"Seriously? Let me give it a shot!"

G-merl walked up to the door and punched it with his strength. Nothing happened. He tried it again and got the same result. He thought a third time would be a charm, but again, nothing happened.

"Yeah, this thing's not getting open."

"Yeah... that's why I got a plan."

"You sure this is gonna work, Tails?"

"Might as well give it a shot, right?"

"I guess so."

"Huddle up, guys. Here's the plan."

Everyone huddled together and listened to Tails' plan.

* * *

 _ **(1)**_

Inside the cavern, Sonic and Dr. Eggman walked down the stairs and have entered a dark room. A room made entirely out of bricks covered in mud and vines, a tiny bit of grass was growing between the crises of the floor.

The torches on the wall illuminated the darkness inside the place, which made the two explorers feel happy that they were able to follow the footprints they found with ease.

Speaking of which, the footprints were leading them to a narrow hallway. Large pieces of broken pillars were laying on the ground.

"Well, doesn't this place seem warm and cozy? Ha-ha," Sonic chuckled. He climbed up one of the broken pillars and walked on top of it. He front-flipped off it and landed on the one across.

"Just shut up and follow those footprints," said Dr. Eggman, as he casually stepped over the rubble. "I want to get out of here as fast as possible!"

"So, do I, but I got to say, this place isn't half bad. Granted, it could be a lot cleaner, but it's not that big of a deal."

Dr. Eggman rolled his eyes and watched as Sonic did parkour off the pieces of rubble. He stepped over another block and continued following the footprints. Along the way, he decided to make a note of something he noticed when he entered the temple. It was something he wanted to talk about.

"You know, Sonic?" he said. "For an ancient temple, I thought the place would be flooded with riches."

"Yeah right, where's all the gold?"

"You think there would be stuff like coins, rings, Mobiums, gems, anything!"

"Ha! Rouge would be all over this place if there were gems hidden here!"

"If there was money here, I would use it to become the richest man in the world!"

"And what would you do next? Jump into a pool of gold while singing _'EggTales! Whoo Hoo! Every day he's out there making EggTales! Whoo Hoo! Tales of being fat and lazy, EggTales! Whoo hoo!'_ "

"Real mature, Sonic... I already have a cool theme song!"

"Sure, you do, EggTales, sure you do."

 _ **(1s)**_ Sonic and Dr. Eggman stopped their banter for a quick second because they suddenly came into a brightly lighted room filled with small holes all over the walls. The two of them split up to see what the holes were for. Dr. Eggman kneeled over and looked inside the hole, seeing nothing but pitch-black darkness.

Sonic did the same thing, but he only looked inside the holes for a split second, unlike Dr. Eggman, who analyzed them.

"Why would the designers put holes in these walls?" the doctor stroked his mustache before coming to his conclusion. "Maybe people put pennies in them!"

Sonic looked inside one of the holes again before hearing a ticking noise on the inside. His fur tingled a little bit before he looked inside the hole. The ticking noise was getting louder and louder; something was coming towards him.

"Darts!" he shouted. _**(2)**_

Before Dr. Eggman could register what, his enemy said to him, a wooden dart with a silver tip shot out of the hole he was standing by. He quickly moved his chubby body out of the way before another one came by. Sonic dodged a few darts that shot out of his side, and he cartwheeled over to Eggman.

Soon enough, every single part of the wall was shooting darts back and forth.

Sonic and Dr. Eggman rolled, ducked, and jumped over the darts as they kept shooting at them at a rapid speed. The former tried to boost his way through the sharp objects, but he figured that he would get killed before he could even make a step. He and Eggman were doing good in not becoming ka-bobs, but even Sonic figured they wouldn't last long at this rate.

Then, it was at that moment where Sonic had the most terrible idea planned; he and Eggman had to work together.

"Eggman, you still got those laser guns?" he asked.

"I think so!" Dr. Eggman evaded darts and reached into his pocket, pulling out two Egg Robo laser blasters. "Yes! Why?"

"Brace yourself!"

Sonic jumped up in the air and started spinning around faster than the speed of sound. He curled into a ball and felt himself going faster and faster by the minute. A blue streak of wind spawned right in a nanosecond, not only pulling Sonic up into the air, but Dr. Eggman was lifted as well. The doctor thought gravity was somehow messing with him, but as soon as he saw Sonic making a blue tornado, he knew what to do next.

Spinning around like a helicopter, Dr. Eggman dual-wielded his guns and started shooting beams of energy at the darts.

The blue tornado pushed itself through the storm of darts, as Sonic and Eggman began cheering for themselves, happy that they were going to get out of this alive.

Eventually, they made it to the other side of the trap room and broke out of their tornado.

Sonic and Dr. Eggman landed on the ground. _**(2s)**_

They were about to fist bump, but they remembered that they were enemies, so they refused to do such a thing. Instead, they turned away from each other and rubbed the back of their heads awkwardly.

"That was uh... a pretty good plan you had there," said Dr. Eggman.

"Yeah and uh... your aiming skills are... not too shabby," Sonic replied.

"Should we keep going?"

"I think that would be the best idea."

Before Sonic can continue his adventure, Dr. Eggman decided to have a quick talk with him.

"Hey, Sonic,"

"Yeah?"

"Bro to bro, what's with you and Amy?"

* * *

Amy Rose swung her hammer as hard as she could into thin air. She was standing on top of the Speed Star, rehearsing her role in Tails' plan. Speaking of him, the two-tailed kitsune plopped himself down into his red leather seat, placing the keys into the car's system.

Vroom. Vroom. Vroom. The engines starting up was music to his ears, the harmony continued as he placed his foot on the gas pedal, getting the circuits all warmed up. Ray, Cream, and Cheese sat in the backseat while G-merl and Mighty were standing behind the vehicle.

Tails cracked his fingers and flexed his shoulders. "Ready, guys?" he asked.

"Ready!" everyone shouted at once.

The fox pulled his finger back, aiming it at the missile button. He then slammed his finger on top of it and shouted, " _Go!_ "

Out the back of the Speed Star, three missiles shot out.

G-merl aimed his right arm upward and shot the same number of weapons.

Six missiles collided against the door and exploded, however, that wasn't all to Tails' plan. Mighty the Armadillo curled into his shell and homing attacked towards Amy. The pink hedgehog reeled her Piko Piko Hammer back before smacking him right in the center of his shell.

Mighty shot like a rocket across the air and slammed against the door, adding to the smoke that spewed around the temple. It covered everyone's line of vision.

Amy jumped down and stored her hammer away. She walked three steps upward and cupped her hands to her mouth. "Mighty!?... are you okay?"

There was no answer.

"Mighty?" Tails worried. _Oh, no... did my plan hurt him!?_

"M-Mighty, p-please answer us," said Ray.

Another moment of silence went by, and Mighty stepped out of the smoke, feeling as fresh as a daisy. "I'm all right, guys."

Not only was he okay, but the force of Mighty's assault caused the door to fall to the ground, a puff of even more smoke rose from the ground. Tails' plan has worked.

"All right!" Cream cheered.

"Chao, Chao!" Cheese squealed and flew around the rabbit.

"Nice work, Tails," G-merl gave the fox a thumbs up.

"Ha-ha! Thanks, G-merl!" said Tails.

"Sonic! I'm coming, my darling Sonic!" Amy Rose blazed through Mighty, knocking him on his rear end. " _Sooooooooonnnnnnnniiiiiiiicccccccc!_ " she ran into the temple.

Tails jumped out of his car and ran after Amy. "G-merl, stay with Cream and Cheese! Mighty, Ray, come with me!"

The dynamic duo followed behind Tails, as they followed Amy into the temple's door.

* * *

After having an awkward bro to bro moment with each other, Sonic the Hedgehog and Dr. Eggman kept following the trail of footprints that they hoped would lead to their escape. The two of them journeyed down a narrow hallway surrounded by yellow walls covered in nothing but muck, the torches lit up the room, showing how disgusting the walls were.

Sonic and Dr. Eggman took a sharp right and went down a flight of stairs, the trail was still crystal clear, even though they were printed on a muddy floor.

Stomp. Stomp. Stomp. The two of them pressed their feet into the dry mud, thankful that it wasn't wet. Otherwise, they would be as dirty as pigs.

They jumped off the stairs and leaped across a crack in the floor, a crack that leads to a bottomless pit.

Landing on the other side, they continued exploring.

"Sheesh, how long is this trail?" Sonic asked.

"Hopefully, not too long," Dr. Eggman replied. As he followed close behind, he looked down and noticed something odd about the footprints. They were an odd shape compared to the normal foot size of any Mobian or human. "Who do you think left these footprints?"

"Probably someone who's got a weird fashion sense in shoes. Look at those things; they almost look like the shape of my Werehog shoes."

"Please don't remind me of _that thing_."

"Aw, what's the matter, Egg-Face? Scared of Sonic the Werehog?"

"First off, _Dr. Eggman_ is the only one who can refer to himself in the third person. Second, the second I saw your Werehog form, I was scared! I was even more frightened when you took down the Egg Dragoon with those stretchy arms!"

"And that howl! Man, I loved howling at the moon at night! Sure, I woke some people from their sleep, but it was awesome! I think I may have one in the tank!"

"Don't you dare."

"I'm gonna do it!"

"Please, don't!"

"Okay, fine... I won't do it."

"Good!"

Dr. Eggman marched on ahead of Sonic, causing the hedgehog to jog up next to him. Being the wise-cracking hero, he is, Sonic decided to ignore the doctor's plea. He turned his cheeks and puffed up his chest. He got ready to howl like a werehog.

" _HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWL!_ "

" _Gawh!_ " Dr. Eggman jumped out of his socks and waved his arms and legs into the air, shaking them as fast as maracas. He landed on the ground, rear first, he was unaware that he accidentally pressed one of the brick tiles into the floor.

Sonic stopped howling and saw the reaction on Eggman's face. Instead of apologizing, he laughed.

"Hahahahahahaha! You should have seen the look on your face! You were like _'ahhhhhh!'_ hahahahahaha!"

Dr. Eggman grunted, as he pushed himself up and cleaned off his clothes. "You idiot! I told you not to do that!"

Sonic neglected Eggman's lecture and kept laughing. His moment of happiness came to a stop once he and Dr. Eggman suddenly felt the ground sink in.

Sonic gulped. "What was that?"

"I don't know." Dr. Eggman replied.

The floor sank again, causing Sonic and Dr. Eggman to look down to see what was happening. Before the two of them can move, the ground's sudden shaking caused them to fall down on their sides. They were too busy bouncing with the melody of the shaking to get up. They looked down and saw the ground fold down underneath them, greeting them to a pool of water that wanted to take them for a ride. In other words, they were about to head straight for a waterslide.

Before the two went down, Dr. Eggman had one last thing to say to Sonic. "You're the devil." _**(3)**_

The floor crumbled below the heroes and they both shot off the waterslide. The two of them fell into a pit of darkness, feeling nothing but water and bricks below their butts.

They screamed at the top of their lungs. The pitches of their pleas went higher as the torches in the waterslide suddenly lit up one at a time, showing both the Mobian and the human the water tube that was awaiting their arrival.

Sonic and Dr. Eggman blasted off the waterside and descended into the tube.

As soon as they made physical contact with the ground, they found themselves spinning around and around the tube. The two of them were riding uncontrollably up the walls of the waterslide. Sonic tried his best to maintain a balanced position, but because of how fast he and Eggman were going, he couldn't do such a thing.

But as if Sonic wasn't suffering enough, Dr. Eggman grabbed the hedgehog's body and wrapped his arms around him, trapping him in a tight hug. The petrified doctor pressed his body against the hedgehog's chest, hugging him in fear.

"Let go of me, Egghead!"

"Watch out!"

Crash. Crash. Boom. Bang. Sonic and Dr. Eggman bumped into the walls of the watery pipeline and continued drifting down the path.

Suddenly, two fish smacked into Sonic's face, landing into his hands. The hedgehog looked down at them and saw that he caught an orange clownfish and a blue tank fish.

The orange clownfish looked up at Sonic with a face full of fear. "Have you seen my son?"

"Eww!" Sonic chucked the fish over his shoulder, unaware that he and Dr. Eggman were coming to an end to their waterslide.

"Hold on, Sonic!" Dr. Eggman hugged the hedgehog tighter.

"Do I have much of a choice!?"

The end of the path was calling each of their names, as both swimmers flew off of the pathway and crashed into a large river.

As they sank down into the water, they swam back up to the surface and doggy paddled their way down the river, praying that there would be land.

Unfortunately, the Mobian Gods above didn't accept their prayer because another waterslide was sitting right before them. Sonic and Dr. Eggman screamed and swam in the other direction, their arms flapping and splashing.

Sadly, their lack of swimming experience didn't pay off because the two of them were sucked down the drain hole and were shot out of the other side, slamming against the wall with a pool of water splashing on top of them.

Sonic crashed into the wall with his back while Dr. Eggman crashed chest first.

The two peeled off the brick wall like stickers and began falling to their doom; a pit.

Sonic waved his arms around like a monkey. "Whoooooooooooooa!"

Dr. Eggman rolled around as if he was in a pinball. "Why meeeeeeeeeeeee!?" _**(3s)**_

* * *

For what seemed like hours of falling. The hedgehog and the human dropped down from a hole in the ceiling and splashed down into a large pool of water that leads to an underground cavern. One that was decorated with multi-colored crystals instead of just moldy gold pillars.

Sonic and Dr. Eggman swam out of the water and took huge puffs of fresh oxygen. The latter sat down on his rear end while the hedgehog was having trouble swimming.

"Help me! Help me! I can't swim! I can't swim!"

Dr. Eggman grabbed Sonic's quills and pulled him up on his feet. From there, Sonic saw that the water was only a few feet deep.

"I can't... swim?" he looked at Dr. Eggman and laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his head. "Heh heh... pretend you never saw that, okay?"

Dr. Eggman rolled his eyes and sat upward. He turned over his shoulder and saw an entire stairway, the footprints lead to the top.

He and Sonic walked over to the stairway and finally got out of the water. They shook themselves dry like dogs, as they trotted up the path. They looked down at the footprints to see if they matched the same ones they've been following for a while; they were.

"Now it looks like we're starting to get somewhere," Dr. Eggman said.

"After _that_ , we better be," Sonic replied.

Sonic and Dr. Eggman walked up to the top and found what they've been looking for all this time... sort of.

Instead of being home free, a small tomb was discovered.

The tomb was a lot cleaner than the previous parts of the underground temple, which made the scene even more beautiful to someone like Sonic. The stone floor had smooth textures on it while the walls had a golden outline with some ancient markings made by old civilizations.

There was one image of the very first Mobian interacting with the very first human, next to it was an image of Light Gaia punching Dark Gaia in the face. More images were displayed all over the walls, but they were all similar in terms of their concept; they were all portraits of culture throughout the history of Mobius.

Agriculture, industrialization, everything that happened in Mobius' history was displayed on these walls.

But the one that intrigued the blue hedgehog the most was a picture that reminded him of an old adventure he had with his friends. It was a war image that was printed in much more darker colors compared to the bright colors of the other ones.

The left side showed Chief Pachacamac leading the Knuckles Clan into battle, and on the other side, a white-furred echidna named Imperator Ix was leading a clan of echidnas called the Nocturnus Clan, against their enemies. He was pictured being side by side with an echidna Sonic met a while back named Shade, a person who was not only friends with Sonic, she was close friends with Knuckles as well.

"Shade?" Sonic smiled. "Never thought I'd see her again. I wonder how she's doing."

The picture showed the Knuckles and Nocturnus Clans fighting with each other over Angel Island, the Knuckles Clan had their soldiers while the Nocturnus Clan had their own people as well as advanced robots called Gizoids. The most famous one was seen standing next to Shade in the picture.

That said Gizoid was once a friend Sonic knew from the past.

"Emerl."

Sonic walked over and placed his hand on the picture of Emerl, looking at all of the charcoal textures the portrait of Emerl had on his face. Sonic slowly leaned his head into the picture and smiled, remembering the time he had to kill Emerl because the robot was planning to destroy the world.

"We miss you, buddy,"

Before the blue blur can continue looking for a way out, something caught his eye. It wasn't another piece of art, it was something else.

On the ground, sitting on a pile of rocks was a robot that bore a strong resemblance to Emerl. The only significant difference between this robot and Emerl is the fin plate on its forehead, which is shaped like a four-pointed star with a split in the top spike, and a chest plate.

Unlike Emerl, who was more of a mustard-yellow, orange, olive-brown, and beige color, this one had a dark blue, light blue, and light green color scheme. It almost resembled the water god of destruction, Chaos, because of its colors.

This robot was a Gizoid. It was all broken and rusted up. All of its colors were camouflaged within muddy brown and grassy green dirt.

Surprised to see an obscure robot like this one sitting here alone, Sonic tip-toed over to it and leaned over, getting a look at its bulging dark blue eyes.

"No way," he said. "Is this for real?"

Just as he was about to pick up the Gizoid, Dr. Eggman called his name. "Sonic! I think I found a way out of here!"

Turning over his shoulder, Sonic saw Dr. Eggman pointing to a wall that looked like it was about to fall apart, the other side was glowing thanks to the sunlight on the other side. The hedgehog turned back to the Gizoid and analyzed its damages. Not only was it dirty, but it also had dart holes all over its body and it had a few scratches on its legs and arms.

Sonic discarded the robot and ran past Eggman. "Stand back!" he rolled into a ball and homing attacked the wall, blinding Dr. Eggman's eyes with the sunlight.

The doctor shielded himself by standing back from the blazing sun. Sonic landed next to him and chuckled, happy to see the sun once again. Dr. Eggman chuckled as well and clapped his hands with joy.

Sonic took a step before turning to the doctor. "Catch ya later, Egg-Face! Up, over, and gone-!"

Prior to Sonic finishing his classic one-liner, something blasts out of the blue and tackles the hedgehog and skidded him against the ground. The latter landed on his chest and felt his face being pinned down by a metallic silver hand. His body was pinned down by a rock-hard knee and something ominous was sneering over him.

Sonic's emerald green eyes looked up and saw the thing that pinned him down. That something was Sonic's robotic doppelganger, Metal Sonic.

"What the!? Metal Sonic!? I see you're not a Phantom Ruby clone anymore, isn't that nice?" Sonic said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"Bahahaha! _'Catch you later, Egg-Face!_ ' " Dr. Eggman mimicked his enemy. "That's you. That's what you sound like!"

"I somehow knew you had a trick up your sleeve. I just _urgh!_... I wish I did have a better reaction time! _Gah!_ " Sonic struggled to get free, but Metal Sonic's weight was pushing him down. "How long was he here for?"

"While you were chasing me into the temple, I was able to send a distress signal to Metal Sonic because I somehow knew we were going to get stuck in this temple! Luckily, he came just in the nick of time!"

"That's a lie! You totally made that up! You called him here just now, didn't you?"

"I cannot confirm nor deny that fact."

Sonic rolled his eyes and grunted, feeling the pressure Metal's hand is putting on his face.

"Well," Dr. Eggman clapped his hands and smirked. "This has been fun, Sonic, but _I_ got to get back to work, evil doesn't brilliantly plan and execute itself, you know!? Down, under, and fast!" he bolted right out the pathway.

"It's up, over, and gone, you Eggs-Benedict-Arnold!"

Sonic plopped his head back down to the ground, just in time to hear some words come out of Metal Sonic.

"Well, well, well," Metal said. He chuckled in the middle of his sentence. "If it isn't my loathsome copy. Haven't seen you in a long time. I look forward to making you suffer."

" _Heh!_ I could say the same thing to you, Metal... hold up a minute, did you just talk?"

"What?"

"Did you just speak full sentences?"

"Yeah, I've always done that."

"Since when?"

"Since that Metal Overlord incident. You know, that time I was in my Neo form?"

"You spoke back then? I didn't even notice."

"Really? It's kind of a long story. You see, Dr. Eggman was rebuilding me one day and then he was all like, _'Metal, I think you should be more intimidating, which is why I'm going to give you a voice chip!'_ and then I was all like _'Whoa, Doctor, don't you think silence is golden?'_ and he replied, _'Nonsense, Metal! Everyone needs a voice actor! No matter how stupid they sound!'_ and so I was like... hey, wait a minute, you're distracting me!"

Sonic miraculously pulled away from Metal Sonic, pushed his feet back, and rammed them straight into Metal's face. The robotic doppelganger tumbled across the room before his back smacked against the wall. He slid down the brick wall and landed on his bottom.

"I should have seen that coming." Metal said. He pushed himself upward and extended his claws. "I've been waiting a long time for this rematch! No Phantom Ruby clones, no Neo forms, just _you_ and _me!_ " _**(4)**_

"All right, bring it on!"

Sonic the Hedgehog didn't hesitate to quickly boost towards Metal, firing an uppercut straight to his face. He then punched the robot twice before landing a kick to his face. Sonic was about to finish it off with a special attack, but Metal Sonic's enhanced acrobatics and reflexes helped him counter attack with brute force.

Sonic's face smacked against the ground, but the hedgehog was able to roll into a spin dash, he went straight for his robot clone, but the latter used a Black Shield to send Sonic flying into the wall.

"Chaos Spear!" Metal Sonic shouted. He chucked a yellow streak of energy at Sonic, who moved out of the way and watched it explode when it touched the wall.

"Who am I fighting here?" Sonic joked. "I thought I was beating the snot out of you, Metal, not Shadow the Hedgehog!"

"Shadow's biodata really comes in handy!" Metal replied. He activated his jet boosters and charged at his rival.

Sonic jumped over Metal and flipped kicked him into the ground. Metal skidded across the bricks before rolling on top of his stomach.

Metal got back up and performed his attack again.

Sonic leaped onto the wall of the room and began running around, recreating all those classic chases he and Metal used to have back on Stardust Speedway.

The two of them chased each other around in a complete three-sixty. Metal Sonic was starting to lose his patience because Sonic was going much faster than before.

"Stop running and fight like a man!" Metal shouted. He shot three Chaos Spears and a missile at Sonic, none of them got him.

"What's wrong, Metal, can't keep up?" Sonic smirked. He leaped off the wall, ran across the room, and jumped back to Metal Sonic. When he did that, he landed a good punch across Metal's face. But unfortunately, Metal recovered quickly and grabbed Sonic's throat.

He pushed Sonic upward and smacked his head into the ceiling, causing some rocks to rain down on the floor. Sonic joined the rocks on the ground and saw Metal racing towards him, his fists were pulled back.

Sonic rolled out of the way, hearing Metal slam his fists against the tiled floor.

"Missed me!" Sonic joked before he back-flipped kicked and volley kicked Metal. The robot fired a punch at Sonic, but the hedgehog dodged, grabbed Metal's arm, and slammed his knee into his gut. He then flipped Metal over and jumped up to body slam him.

Metal prevented himself from being crushed by rolling to the side. He picked Sonic up and punched him in the gut. Sonic fired two blows and a kick, but all three attacks were deflected by the robot, who grabbed Sonic's hands and head-butted him.

Sonic stumbled backward after feeling that kind of pain to his forehead, as he rolled underneath Metal and tripped him with his foot.

Metal shot upward and kicked Sonic in the chest, sending him straight into the Gizoid's chest.

Sonic sat up and noticed his back landed against the Gizoid's chest plate. "Oops, sorry Dead Robot,"

"This fight has gone on long enough!"

"Really? You want to make it short? The audience loves it when we fight!"

"Enough is enough! It's time to end this!"

Metal Sonic clenched his fists and slightly shook his arms and wrists in pure anger. His head started to rattle as well and soon his entire body did the same. Within a matter of seconds, orange and yellow sparks emitted from his body. He was overloading himself with his circuitry, causing blue sparks to emit from his body. An energy field flowed down from his body to his fists. He was ready to cook Sonic into a fried hedgehog.

"Oh, no, not this move again," Sonic moaned.

"V. Maximum Overdrive activated!" Metal said. He aimed both of his hands at Sonic and called out his attack. "Target Acquired: Fire!"

The bolts of electricity shot out like fireworks, they all aimed towards Sonic with bright glittering lights.

Just as it was about to shock Sonic with around nine-thousand volts of electricity, the blue blur dodged out of the way and did something he didn't think would do any harm; he allowed the Gizoid to take the hit.

The electrical field wrapped around the Gizoid, causing its entire body to shutter. The electricity's sounds got louder and louder, as the Gizoid kept agitating.

Sonic and Metal stopped fighting and saw the Gizoid moving due to the amount of charges it was receiving. The two of them were about to run away out of fear that the Gizoid would explode, but before they can make a single step, the robot emulated a white light of energy.

It blanketed the tomb, trapping Sonic and Metal in a pool of light.

The two covered their eyes and crouched down. _**(4s)**_

Eventually, the eye-blinding light cleared up, freeing Sonic and Metal from its capture. The wave of energy somehow evaporated into thin air, bringing life and color back to the tomb.

But despite how large the lake of light was, no casualties were made to the place.

Everything looked the same. The pictures, the pieces of rubble, everything was the same. The Gizoid was still laying in its original position, but smoke was spewing from its chest plate, armpits, and kneecaps.

Sonic and Metal lowered their arms and looked at the Gizoid, the former was flabbergasted that a rusted old robot could survive such a catastrophic blow.

"How did... how did he survive that?" Sonic asked. He walked up to the dead drone and looked over him, smoke blew in his face. He backed up and wiped the steam away from him. "I mean, he technically didn't survive because he's already dead, but what I meant to say was that his body somehow took that blow as if it was alive... where am I going with this?"

Metal Sonic punched Sonic across the face and knocked him on the floor. A Chaos Spear spawned in his left arm, as he stepped on the hedgehog's chest with his metallic red foot.

Sonic struggled to escape, but Metal Sonic's weight prevented him from doing so. He looked up and heard the voice of a Chaos Spear calling his name, he knew that thing wanted to poke his eye out and that Metal Sonic really wanted to kill him.

Punch. Punch. Punch. He whacked Metal's foot with brute force, but Metal Sonic's will kept his foot on his enemy's skin colored chest.

The Chaos Spear was aimed towards Sonic's throat. "Any last words?"

Sonic grunted and growled before something caught his eye. He gasped and shook his hands and face, warning Metal to pay attention to his surroundings. "Yes!... you might want to say hello to our new friend!"

"Huh?"

Metal Sonic turned his head to the side, he quickly jerked it back as soon as he saw what Sonic was talking about.

The once dead Gizoid... was moving. _**(5)**_

The blue and green robot stood up using its own hands and feet, slowly standing up as if it was a toddler learning to walk for the first time. It planted its legs on the ground and pushed itself up with its arms. It tripped on its foot the second it stood up, but it regained balance in a split second.

Metal took his foot off Sonic's chest, giving the hedgehog a chance to jump up on his feet.

The Gizoid stepped forward three times prior to lifting its head up, looking at both fighters with its big dark blue eyes. It turned its head to the left and saw Sonic the Hedgehog, and then to the right where he saw Metal Sonic. It started to scan the two of them, searching for information about them.

"Lifeform Identification: Sonic," it spoke in a robotic male voice. "Species: Hedgehog. Height: 3 feet, 3 inches. Weight: 77 pounds. Alignment: Good."

"77 pounds?" Sonic asked. He patted his tummy with a frown. "Am I getting fat?"

"Lifeform Identification: Metal Sonic. Species: Robot. Height: 3 feet, 3 inches. Weight: 275.4 pounds."

"Ha! You're fatter than I am!"

"Alignment: Evil."

Sonic gave a small whistle, as he folded his arms. A smirk was on his face. "Looks like we got a smarty pants here. This guy sure knows his stuff."

"How do you know so much about us?" Metal Sonic asked. "And more importantly, who are you?"

"To answer your first question," said the Gizoid. "I scanned your biodata, it's one of the many perks of being a robot. Second, my name is CD-2003, but my creators call me... _**Synergy**_." _**(5s)**_

 _ **END OF CHAPTER 2**_

* * *

 _Synergy? Who is that? Is he a friend or is he a foe? Metal Sonic has accidentally awakened a broke Gizoid who doesn't seem to know where he is. How will this turn out for our hero, Sonic? Find out as Sonic and Metal find out more about their mysterious newcomer in..._

 _"Chapter 3: My Name is Synergy."_

* * *

 _ **POST-A/N**_

 _The Chapter title is a reference to the first Uncharted game, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. Can you guess which part of the game it refers to?_

 _G-merl, sometimes known as Gemerl, will have a significant role to play in this story since I feel that he's a bit of an underrated character. Everyone I know likes Emerl, but no one seems to pay attention to G-merl. Personally, I think G-merl needs more attention in the Sonic Games. He's in the Archie Comics Series, and I think he was on the cover of IDW Sonic the Hedgehog Issue 9. I hope he gets into the IDW series soon. I love this character._

 _A DuckTales reference was made in here. I don't watch the show, but that theme song is catchy._

 _Special thanks to the Sonic News Network: The Official source to everything related to Sonic the Hedgehog for helping me find out the height and weight of both Sonic and Metal._

 _Synergy's prototype name "CD-2003" is not only a reference to Sonic CD, but it's a reference to the release year of Sonic Battle, the very first appearance of Emerl._

 _Sonic and Eggman's journey through the temple was inspired by Sonic Boom (The Dart Section came from the episode "Curse of the Buddy Buddy Temple") The water scene came from one of my favorite animated movies, Flushed Away._

 _A little Finding Nemo reference is somewhere in here. Can you find it?_

 _Synergy first appeared in an old Sonic Forces story I did, it was called Sonic Heroes: The Atom Bomb. He was meant to be my own take on Infinite since I wasn't a huge fan of the jackal at the time. I got Writer's Block for that story and I decided to make a new one instead with Infinite. I've been wanting to bring this character back for a while, and I am glad I get the chance to do so here._

 _Thanks for sticking around for this chapter. I hope you all enjoyed it. We'll be seeing more once the third chapter is released. Don't forget to leave your thoughts below and I will see you all next time!_


	3. My Name is Synergy

_**A/N:** Special thanks to TGN, SharpDragonKlaw, Alexandria Prime, and Infinite's Ruby for dropping another review on this story and special shoutout to Lovingh3art for leaving a favorite to this story. Another credit goes to Infinite's Ruby, who not only helped me with this chapter, but she agreed to help with this whole story. We're not sure how long this'll be, but we're hoping it does well enough to continue. Thank you all for taking us to Chapter 3!_

 _Also, I meant to say this in the previous chapter, but there is a poll regarding a popular Sonic character on my profile. Make sure you guys look at the question and vote on your choice._

 _Disclaimer: Sonic the Hedgehog and all other related properties belong to SEGA (IDW Characters belong to SEGA & IDW Comics)_

 _Without further ado, enjoy the show!_

 _ **Suggested Music:**_

 _ **(1) Gaia Manuscripts – Sonic Unleashed OST**_

 _ **(2) Meta Knight's Revenge – Super Smash Bros. Brawl OST**_

 _ **(3) Theme of the Resistance – Sonic Forces OST**_

 _ **(4) Egg Hawk – Sonic Heroes OST**_

 _ **(5) Fist Bump (Double Boost Ver.) – Sonic Forces OST**_

 _ **(6) Full Speed Ahead – Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity OST**_

 _ **(7) Main Theme – Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood Remastered OST (Credit Goes to YouTuber: Hatokman)**_

* * *

 **My Name is Synergy**

While Sonic and Metal make a fascinating discovery, Tails and his team were making their way down the same pathway that Sonic and Eggman journeyed through. They're not sure if the those two went this way, but because of how linear the temple's design is, they didn't see another reason to ignore the designated pathway.

The two-tailed fox was using his tails to fly over some of the broken pillars; the yellow flying squirrel was following him. Mighty and Amy, lacking the ability to fly, had to stick to the ground.

They hopped over a few pillars before the pink hedgehog tripped on one of them. She fell on her face and moaned.

Mighty jumped over a block and placed Amy's shoulder around his neck, helping her up on her feet.

"Careful, Amy," he said. "Watch your step."

"Thanks for the warning," Amy said sarcastically, she brushed off the dirt on her red velvet dress. "This place is _disgusting!_ Look what it's doing to my clothes!"

"Well, what do you expect from an abandoned tomb? Fine dining and sanitary hotel rooms?"

"No!... but those would be a lot better than this!"

"Calm down, Amy," Tails said. "We've been through worse."

"I know we have, but this is disgusting!"

Tails and Mighty rolled their eyes and continued searching for Sonic and Eggman. Ray moved his eyes high and low, looking for any clues that may lead him to his goal. Much to his surprise, he eventually found something in the form of footprints; three sets to be exact.

"Hey, guys! Look down there!" he pointed to the tracks below. Everyone gathered around them and inspected them one by one.

"This one looks like Sonic's!" Amy smiled, she wrapped her arm around Tails in excitement.

"And this o-one l-looks like E-Eggman's!" Ray flinched when he said Eggman's name.

"But... who does these tracks belong to?" Mighty pointed to the mysterious third set of footprints, the ones shaped like a robot's boot.

"Did something follow them down here?" Amy asked.

"That wouldn't be possible." Tails stroked his chin. "These footprints are dry, Sonic and Eggman's tracks are wet. If anything, something was down here before them. We better get a move on before they find out what it is!"

Everyone nodded their heads in agreement, as they ran down the trail of footprints, unaware of what Sonic has found underground.

* * *

 **(1)**

"Synergy?" Sonic said to the mysterious Gizoid. He stroked his chin and eyeballed Metal Sonic with a confused yet intrigued look. He tapped his foot three times before nodding his head. "Sounds fancy,"

"What kind of ridiculous name is that?" Metal Sonic inquired.

The green/blue robot known as Synergy stepped forward, motioning towards the metal hedgehog. "I will admit, the name sounds ridiculous when I first heard it. But once I found out what I'm capable of, I realized that the name made sense. It still sounds a little weird, but hey, what can you do?"

Sonic and Metal glanced at each other. It was obvious the two were confused as to why this person was trapped down here for a long time. They both inferred he was locked in her for a while because of how much mud, dirt, and injuries he has on his body. They both faced him again and prepared to ask more questions. Particularly Metal Sonic, who was intrigued that his power was able to supercharge a broken robot.

"How did you get down here?" he asked.

"If I were to, be honest, I don't remember. That last thing I recall was sitting by the campfire with my colleagues. Then suddenly, there was this black hole in the sky, and I was struck by lightning!"

Both hedgehogs stared at one another again. No matter what answers they got, they were still confused.

"Black hole in the sky?" Metal said.

"Struck by lightning?" Sonic jerked an eyebrow above his head.

"It sounds crazy, I know," Synergy shrugged his shoulders. "But it's true! I was camping out in the Mystic Ruins with... them!" he pointed at the picture to this left.

The duo of hedgehogs looked in the direction the Gizoid was pointing at. They were looking at the same picture of the Knuckles Clan declaring war on the Nocturnus Clan. The blue blur stepped forward and analyzed the right side of the picture, admiring all of the Gizoids painted in that picture. What got him the most was the fact that Emerl and Shade were standing next to Imperator Ix. Synergy walked closer to the picture and stood next to Sonic, not too close, but close enough to send chills down the hedgehog's spine.

The robot stroked the picture with his fingers, accidentally getting some paint and charcoal on his fingers.

Metal admired the painting as well, drawing his own conclusions about Synergy's origins. "You came from the Mystic Ruins?"

"Yes, I did. I was built and programmed by-"

"The Nocturnus Clan!" Sonic cut off the Gizoid's sentence.

"Oh, you know them?"

Sonic gave a cocky whistle before smirking. "I remember those losers came down to Mobius to steal the Master Emerald one time, but my friends and I kicked sent them crying to their mommas!"

"If by losers, you mean a highly technologically advanced civilization responsible for several world breaking achievements? Then yes, that's them."

"The same group of echidnas with technology that could be beneficial towards my master's goal of conquering this planet." Metal Sonic snapped his fingers; he drew his conclusion. "If you're here, then that means it's possible some of their technology has been hidden away."

"Don't be ridiculous, bucket head," Sonic chuckled. "When they showed up here, my friends and I destroyed all their stuff!"

"But it's likely they hid some of it away before they were banished into the Twilight Cage. If Synergy's alive, then that means there could be more technology hidden around our world."

 _What are these two talking about?_ Synergy said in his mind. _They're acting like the Nocturnus Clan have died... did they?_

Synergy shook his head before backing away from the picture. "Listen, fellas, I thank you both for waking me from my slumber. It sounds like I missed a lot, so I must go see what's happened since I've been gone. I bid you both a good day."

"Not so fast, Synergy," Metal Sonic raised a finger, causing the Gizoid to pause his progression. "I've seen your kind before; my master has worked with two Gizoids like you. You're _very_ valuable." **(1s)**

"Well, someone once told me I'm only worth two cents. I wasn't sure whether that was a compliment or an insult."

"Not that kind of valuable! I meant to say you can be very useful for the Eggman Empire. If you work with my master, you can help him achieve his goal in ruling the world."

As Metal told Synergy about how valuable he is, Sonic was mimicking Metal's voice by dubbing over him silently, making funny movements with his hands and face.

Metal Sonic, who knew Sonic was mocking him in the background, ignored him and finished talking to Synergy.

"You can really be an assist to the Eggman Empire,"

Synergy gazed into Metal's red eyes for a quick moment before shaking his head. He was displeased about this offer. "Sorry, uh... Metal Sonic, was it? You seem like a nice guy,"

"He really isn't!" Sonic shook his head, folding his arms.

"But I'm not interested in working for someone else. I'm programmed to live and serve under Imperator Ix. I have my own agendas of ruling the world, but I appreciate your offer. I bid you good day."

"Oh... you think I was making an offer?" Metal Sonic chuckled. "That's cute. Look here, I'm in no mood to negotiate, you're coming with me!"

"Watch your tone there, Sonic rip-off, you don't want to do this!"

"Come on, Metal, don't be a jerk!" Sonic called out.

"Enough!" Metal Sonic raised his fist. "You're coming with me whether you _like it or not!_ "

He lunged his metal fist right at Synergy's face, thinking one punch would knock the Gizoid out cold. But Metal Sonic couldn't have been more wrong. Instead of landing a punch, Synergy caught Metal's hand and trapped it in his clutches.

Sonic stood back and clenched his fists, ready for a possible fight.

Synergy sneered close to Metal's face and stared into the robot's soul. "Metal Sonic skill move: successfully copied." Synergy landed the same blow Metal tried to give to him, forcing him to skid across the ground on his chest. The robot then turned to Sonic and saw that he was ready for combat.

"You know, Synergy," Sonic grinned. "You sounded nice at first, but as soon as you said you have your own plans for world domination, the good feeling sadly went away. In other words, I'm gonna jack you up!"

"Show me what you can do, Sonic the Hedgehog!" **(2)**

Sonic and Synergy charged at each other and began to fight. The former kicked the latter straight in the face and homing attacked him into a wall. Sonic flew backward into the air and homed in on Synergy again and again and again. All Synergy did was bump against the wall with every blow, trying to find time to copy Sonic's skill moves.

Sonic spin-dashed into Synergy one more time before shouting, "I can do this all day!"

"So, can I!" Synergy finally dodged Sonic's spin attack and rolled across the floor. His blue eyes began to glow a lime green color, meaning he transferred Sonic's Spin Dash ability into his system. "Have a taste of your own medicine, hedgehog!"

Synergy curled into a ball and started revving up a boost of speed. He accelerated around the room before he bumped right into Sonic, who was also in his ball form. The two of them ricocheted off of the walls, homing attacking into each other with all of their strength.

Bump. Hit. Bounce. Hit. Both fighters were in an action-packed brawl.

Their fight soon ended as soon as two Chaos Spears blasted them out of orbit. It was Metal Sonic, who looked to be more ticked off than he was before. His eyes were on fire and the oil that ran in his veins boiled like blood. He wasn't going to let a day like this be ruined by a blue rat and an arrogant Gizoid, so he joined the fight.

Priority number one for him was apprehending Synergy, so he assaulted him first.

Synergy leaped over Metal's claws and homing attacked the mindless drone in the back.

Sonic leaped up, and overhead punched him in the face. Synergy tripped and fell on his knee because of that. Sonic was about to hit him again, but Synergy dodged the attack and copied Sonic's overhead punch.

He kicked Sonic across the face, slammed his knee against his chest, and chucked the hedgehog straight out the cavern's door with a spinning back fist.

Metal Sonic woke up and tackled the blue and green robot from behind, flying in the same path Sonic flew out of.

The three of them landed in the water in the crystal caves, giving them more room to fight each other. All three brawlers jumped up with their quick reflexes and continued fighting.

Punch after kick after jab after volley kick, all of these attacks were flying across the room from one fighter to another. All three of them were equally matched for each other. Nobody knew who was going to fall on the floor and who would be the one walking away.

Synergy landed a strong uppercut on Metal.

Sonic hook punched Synergy.

The Gizoid straight punched Sonic.

A Chaos Spear exploded when it touched Synergy's back.

Sonic homing attacked both Synergy and Metal Sonic.

The watery caves became nothing but a battlefield.

Synergy grabbed both Sonic and Metal and slammed them against each other, right before the top half of his body spun around. At first, he was going slow, but now he was going faster and faster. Sonic's stomach pushed his food up to this throat, hoping he would cough up his lunch while Metal Sonic's eyes jingled up and down like bells.

The two of them were released from Synergy's grasp. They fell right into the water, landing on top of each other.

They jumped up on their feet, the fastest thing alive wanted to work out a battle plan. "Metal, I hate to say it, but we need to attack him from both sides, we can take him out together!"

"I take no orders from you!" Metal angrily punched Sonic and sent him diving into the water. His jet boosters shot out a wave of fire that sent him flying into Synergy. But the Gizoid jumped over the metal doppelganger and plunged straight into the water, submerging his whole body underwater. **(2s)**

Metal Sonic ran five steps forward and looked for his new enemy.

He scanned every inch of the water around him, but he found nothing in sight.

Sonic stood across from Metal and did the same thing.

"Where did he go!?" Metal shouted.

"I don't know!" Sonic shouted. "You're the one who lost him!"

" _I_ lost him!?"

"Yeah! You just _had_ to attack him!"

"Don't give me that load of crud, you were planning on attacking him too! He said that he had his own agenda for world domination! Knowing you, you were going to be totally on top of that!"

"Of course, I would! Everyone on Mobius has had to deal with Eggman reawakening Chaos, using the Eclipse Cannon to blow _half_ the moon apart, and not to mention breaking the world apart, unleashing Dark Gaia in the process! Synergy's just one more threat I've got to stop before anyone else gets hurt!"

Blub. Blub. Blub. Bubbles rising out of the water stopped Metal from retorting against the hedgehog. He, along with Sonic, turned his head, looking down in the left direction. More bubbles popped out of the pool, making a popping sound. But these weren't just ant normal bubbles coming from the bottom of the water, they were something else. What could they be?

Sonic and Metal stood back, getting as far away from the bubbles as they could.

Each of them stood into a fighting stance, trying to prepare themselves for Synergy's next attack.

Blub. Blub. Blub. Water splashed into the air and waves started to brush against both Sonic and Metal Sonic's legs. The former's fur was soaking wet, water trickled down over Metal Sonic's metallic body.

Just then, something sprouted right out of the water. It splashed nothing but fresh liquid all over the crystals. Sonic and Metal Sonic jumped back and landed on their feet, looking up to see one of the strangest things they've ever seen a Gizoid do. Synergy came out of his hiding spot with a new look and a new power. He resembled a mix between himself and Chaos, still wearing his distinctive armor, though this has become just as malleable as Chaos' own liquid body. To top it all off, Synergy's mouth grew a lethal set of jaws. He roared as loud as a lion as soon as he saw the faces of his two enemies. He extended his three claws and swiped at the air, trying to strike fear into the souls of his attackers.

Sonic's eyes widened when he saw this sudden transformation. A Gizoid that had the ability to change into a Chaos form? How could that be? "W-what the!?" he shouted, his jaw dropped. "Since when can Gizoids do that!?"

"He seems to have activated some kind of Chaos Emulation," Metal said. He slapped his knuckles together, ready for a fight, despite how surprised he was to see Synergy's new power. "No matter, I'll deal with him myself!"

"Metal! Again, I really hate to say it, but we must team up in order to beat him! Gizoids can't copy the abilities of two people at a time! We need to strike him from both sides!"

"Like I said before, I take no orders from- _Argh!_ "

Synergy crushed Metal Sonic's body with his fist. He swatted at Sonic, but he missed. Sonic landed back down and helped Metal up on his feet. Something he would never do, but if he wanted to stop Synergy from planning his quest for dictatorship, he had to team up with one of his deadliest foes. Metal accepted Sonic's hand and felt himself being pulled off the ground. He nodded at the hedgehog and cracked his metallic fingers.

"How about we do this your way," Metal Sonic said.

"Good idea!" Sonic gave a thumbs up to the robot.

Synergy roared again. Sonic and Metal engaged into combat with the oversized monster.

* * *

 **(3)**

Green Hill City: A decently-sized quaint town that resembled a lot of cities such as Empire City and Central City. Built in a blocky hill landscape with layered soil, colored in diverse shades of green and brown grass on top of the hills, like how the landscape it's built upon was structured. Placed alongside a lake and a river, Green Hill City had multiple islands housing several buildings near the central city area. The biggest attraction of the city was a long, narrow bridge that was colored red titled the Red Gate Bridge. The attention grabber ran across the whole city, helping pave roads to get to other islands inaccessible by walking on land.

Following the Eggman's devastation on the city during the Phantom Ruby War, the location went from a timid town to an all-out war zone, with various Death Egg Robot Sentinels, Badniks, Super Badniks, and other robots swarming the city, running amok. Property damage is seen no matter what section of Green Hill City is shown to one's eye.

While the place was still damaged, there were those who stayed behind to clean it up.

One of those individuals was riding inside of an elevator. The pipes clanging inside of the shaft kept the person up during a tiring afternoon, along with a cup of coffee he had in his hands. The rattling caused by the elevator made tiny drops of coffee touch the lid with the tip of its liquefied fingers. The person pressed his lips against the tip of the lid, feeling the warm, luscious beverage run down his taste buds. He removed himself from the taste of his coffee and took a deep sigh, looking forward to the end of the day where he would go back to his home.

The individual inside the elevator shaft was the Commander of the Resistance himself, Knuckles the Echidna.

He wished for nothing more than to go back to his humble adobe in the clouds; Angel Island, where he wanted to sit down on the top of Shrine Isle, watching over the Master Emerald. He also wanted to have a chance to talk to both Tikal, who he hasn't seen in a long time. He would have liked to Chaos as well, but he knew that the water god didn't talk to anyone ever since he found out Dr. Eggman used the Phantom Ruby to clone him. Knuckles shook his head after thinking about that Chaos clone, as he looked down at his coffee mug, he took another sip.

Suddenly, the elevator decided it wanted Knuckles to leave, so it stopped right where he wanted to go. The silver doors open with a swooshing sound, allowing Knuckles to walk out into Resistance HQ.

As soon as he got to the large catwalk, he looked over the railing and observed many soldiers of the Resistance carrying cargo boxes, talking amongst themselves, re-loading their Wispons, and sparring with their friends in marital arts combat. Knuckles nodded his head in satisfaction and walked down the stairs, greeting many soldiers that came his way.

"Afternoon, fellas," he greeted with a wave.

"Good afternoon, Commander Knuckles," said a purple beaver.

Knuckles walked off the stairs and walked down the room, he respectfully smiled to other fractions of the Resistance.

"What's up, Commander?" said a green female cat.

"Hey, how are you?" Knuckles waved.

"What's going on, Commander Knux?" a purple bird walked up to his commander and fist bumped him. Knuckles fist bumped back.

"Good afternoon, buddy,"

A red bear and a black dog walked up to the commander and high fived him. They both said, "Hello, Knuckles!"

"Hey, guys!"

Knuckles watched as more soldiers passed him. He waved to the last few before he found someone he's been looking for. It was a light brown male dog wearing boots that looked like Dr. Eggman's, a black and white military jacket, and a military hat that matched the same colors as his jacket. A golden anchor was printed on the top. To finish his attire, he had a thick black mustache that curled against his nose. He was chatting with an orange cat and a brown bear.

"Captain Rex," Knuckles called, he moved his finger in a _"Come here, please"_ motion.

The dog looked over his shoulder and saw Knuckles walking towards him. He quickly jerked his head back to his friends and started geeking out. "Oh my gosh! Commander Knuckles called my name! Be cool guys! Be cool!"

He ran to his boss and walked alongside him. "Captain Rex, reporting for duty, Commander Knuckles!"

"What's the status on Operation: Reconstruction?"

"Yesterday, Fox Squad and I helped Professor Pickle re-build Spagonia University. He's looking forward to the day his students come back to class."

"That sounds great! Anything else?"

"Honey the Cat wants you to come over to her Fashion Studio in Empire City. She wants to show you the prototypes of those Resistance hoodies she teased a while back."

"Tell her I'll be there later. Do you have any intel on Eggman's leftover facilities?"

"We recently cleared out all of Eggman's bases in Green Hill, Mystic Jungle, and Metropolis. Some of our other squadrons are looking into the rest of South Island and Westside Island. But we can say that if we keep up this momentum, we'll liberate Mobius of Eggman's robots in no time!"

"That's what I like to hear, Captain! Oh! Is the Resistance here for our meeting today?"

Captain Rex gave a nervous sound; he rubbed the back of his head. "Sadly, not everyone is here, sir."

"What do you mean?"

"Team Dark had to do something for the G.U.N and Sonic, Tails, and Amy are chasing after Dr. Eggman. Said something about him kidnapping a rabbit and some animals."

"Understandable. I hope they rescue those critters in time. Thanks, Captain."

"No problem, boss!"

Before Knuckles walked into the second room, he stopped for a quick moment to ask one more query. "Wait, hold on a second, Captain Rex! One more thing!"

"O-oh, what's wrong, sir?"

Knuckles looked around to see if anyone was listening to him. No one wasn't paying attention. He leaned into Rex's ear and whispered this: "Were you able to get into contact with… her?"

"Rouge, sir?"

"No, not her. I mean… _her?_ "

Rex took a second to think about what Knuckles was trying to say. He snapped his fingers and shook his head. "No, sir. She hasn't responded to any of our messages."

Feeling disappointed, Knuckles nodded his head. "Thanks, Rex. I appreciate your help." he patted the captain on his shoulder before walking into the Meeting Room.

"You're welcome, sir," Rex said. He suddenly gripped his shoulder and squealed. "OMG! He touched my shoulder! I'm never washing this jacket again!" **(3s)**

* * *

Knuckles opened the door and entered the main room of Resistance HQ, the room that had a large monitor that showed a map of Mobius on the screen. 99% of the map was blue, symbolizing land that belonged to the Resistance while only 1% of it was red, meaning it was land that belonged to the Eggman Empire.

As he walked in the room, he saw the only remaining members of the Resistance communicating with each other. Vector the Crocodile, Espio the Chameleon, Charmy Bee, and Silver the Hedgehog were all sitting by the table, laughing at a funny story the green crocodile was discussing with them.

Knuckles sat himself down at the far end of the table, he placed his cup of coffee down and cleared his throat. "Attention, everyone!... I need your attention, please!"

Nobody listened to a word the leader was saying.

"Excuse me, guys? Hello?"

Everyone just kept talking.

" _Hey! Shut up!_ "

The Resistance stopped yapping their mouths and hushed themselves. The various eye colors faced Knuckles and waited to see what he wanted to say. Their ears were wide open, and smiles ran across their faces. Knuckles cleared his throat and prepared to speak.

"Good afternoon, everyone,"

"Good afternoon, Commander Knuckles!" everyone said politely.

Knuckles looked down at a clipboard in front of him and pulled it beside his chest. "Welcome back to Resistance HQ. Today is… let's see here," he read the clipboard filled with a list of Resistance activity since the conclusion of the war. "Today's Day 56 of Operation: Reconstruction. First off, wow, I can't believe we've made it this far. I'm extremely proud that we've been cleaning up our planet for that many days, and it's all thanks to you guys, keep up the good work!"

The Resistance nodded their heads and smiled. Espio and Silver fist-bumped each other while Vector and Charmy high-fived.

"But despite our efforts to clean up the streets, Dr. Eggman has been out there making more of a mess than he did during the war. Luckily, I have a plan to apprehend him and fix our planet at the same time. We're going to split up around the world and help the civilians rebuild their homes. Here's what I thought out last night,"

Knuckles walked to the monitor and typed on the keyboard, pulling up a map of Mobius. "Team Chaotix, there's a rumor that there's a hidden Eggman base between Station Square and south of Metropolis. Your mission is to head over there and burn it to the ground!"

"Not a problem, Knuckles," Vector grinned. "We'll be back before you can say _'Team Chaotix!'_ "

"Team Chaotix!" Charmy giggled, he was being a smart aleck.

"I was talking to Knuckles, smart aleck!"

"Silver," the commander continued. "Soleanna's had reports of Badnik sightings for a bit. Could you head over there and check things out?"

"Sure thing, Knuckles!" Silver saluted with a smile. "I came here to save my future. I won't leave until peace has been restored!"

"That's what I like to hear! All right, Resistance, move out!"

Team Chaotix and Silver jumped out of their seats and bolted right out the door, ready to fulfill their dreams of returning things to the way they were. Knuckles waved them goodbye and watched as the door slammed shut. This gave him the chance to do something he's neglected to tell the Resistance about for a while, what could it be? He walked over to the monitor screen and went into the home page. From there, he scrolled through the various apps he had on his computer until he found communications. He clicked on the icon and scrolled down through his list of contacts.

 _Sonic._

 _Tails._

 _Amy._

 _Espio._

 _Vector._

 _Charmy._

 _Shadow._

 _Rouge._

 _Unknown Number._

He pressed his fingers against the mouse, clicking on the anonymous label. He was suddenly greeted to a black screen with a silhouette of the person he's trying to call. He waited and waited, praying to God that the person on the other side would give him an answer. Unfortunately, he was greeted to the déjà vu; a recorded message.

" _You've reached the number of Unknown Caller. Please leave a message, and the person will get back to you as soon as they can. Thanks, have a great day!"_

After hearing the beep, Knuckles spoke, "Hey, it's me again… I'm about to head over to Empire City to observe some Resistance themed merchandise. It wasn't my idea, but Honey the Cat insisted she'd brand her own clothing based off our team. Said it would help people support reconstruction… anyways, I was calling because… if you're not busy, would you mind coming down to Resistance HQ in Green Hill City? I was hoping we could get a chance to catch up… I'll um… talk to you soon… goodbye."

He hung up the phone and let out a low sigh. He sat back down by the table and drank his last sip of coffee. _Why won't you talk to me?_

* * *

 **(4)**

Synergy's Chaos Emulation swatted his arms at both Sonic and Metal, smacking them both right into the wall of crystals. Pieces of shiny objects shattered due to the impact and sprinkled all over the ground. The hedgehog and the robot landed on the ground on their stomachs, using their agile acrobatics and reflexes to get back on their feet.

Metal Sonic flew around Synergy and blinded him with an armada of missiles, providing a distraction so his teammate, for now, Sonic can spin dash the Gizoid. Sonic did just what he planned to do and nailed Synergy right across his face. He did the same thing as soon as he landed on his toes. Metal Sonic glided around the watery monster just in time to avoid an octopus-like arm with three fingers. He activated his Black Shield just in time to protect himself. Sonic ran up the walls, jumped off, landed on the top of the shield, and homing attacked Synergy's forehead.

Metal de-activated his shield and fired one mighty uppercut up Synergy's chin, hearing the monster wince in pain.

"Ha-ha! Say goodnight, gruesome!" Sonic grinned, diving himself into Synergy's chest, giving him a taste of another Spin Dash.

"Don't get too excited!" Metal ducked below Synergy's next attack; a single swat with his arm. "He's not finished yet!"

"He will be once _we_ deal with him!"

Sonic and Metal punched and kicked Synergy's monster-sized chest one last time before they backed away, evading his fists hitting the ground. They re-grouped with one another and stood side by side, they were ready to end Synergy's reign of terror, despite the fact he hasn't done any harm above the surface. **(4s)**

"Ready for this, Metal?"

"I'm going to regret this."

The blue hero of Mobius and the robotic copycat suddenly leaped up in the air with a spiral and faces one another. They focused their power into one of their hands, slowly pulling them back as if they were doing a slow-motion shot for a movie. Normal speed returned to them as soon as they slapped their hands together with a high-five. In mid-air, the three of them Spin Dash before they suddenly rocketed through the air, leaving a cloud of smoke in the shape of their spheroid states, thus greatly amplifying their combined speed. **(5)**

Sonic's main plan of attack… was the Double Boost, a move he did with a Rookie when he joined the Resistance. Specifically, the time they raided the Arsenal Pyramid in Green Hill Zone.

Sonic and Metal boosted through the crystals, shooting them directly into Synergy's chest.

Left. Right. Up. Down. Synergy's face was being blown from all directions. He lacked time to react to the trick up Sonic and Metal's sleeves. He attempted to copy their moves and put them to use through his own means, but because of how fast the hedgehog and the robot went, his copying abilities failed him.

After one more final strike to the face, Synergy fell right out of his Chaos Emulation and returned to his normal form. He landed smack in the middle of the water, feeling the water that splashed onto the ceiling fall on top of him.

The Gizoid was now defeated, Sonic and Metal have won the fight. **(5s)**

When they both landed on the floor, the latter walked up to the defeated Gizoid. He still wanted to take him to his boss, so he decided that it would be best to arrest him now before anything else happened. But just as he got a foot closer to him, his fur-covered counterpart stepped in his way.

"Get out of my way, loathsome copy. That Gizoid possesses technology which will benefit my master's goal of conquering this helpless world!"

Sonic shook his head defiantly. "No way, Metal! Even though this Gizoid's a threat to Mobius, I'm not going to let you take him back to your boss, so that he can be used for Eggman's schemes!"

As the two argued, Synergy tenderly put his hands on the ground, pushing himself up on his knee.

"Move, Sonic! Or I'll make you move!"

"Ain't gonna happen, Bucket-Head!"

"Don't bother troubling yourselves," Synergy spoke in a tired tone. "I can help myself up."

Metal smacked Sonic across the face and sent him tumbling into a pile of broken crystals. He then punched Synergy in his chest, watching him fall on his knees.

"You're coming with me; your powers will be a great advantage to the Eggman Empire. Besides, I'm sure my master would be able to assist in your goals in world conquest."

"That's a cute offer, but I refuse. No one tells me to come with them!" Synergy growled. "I have a master, one who allowed me to use my power for a purpose. I'm not letting a weak-willed moron hinder my true potential!"

"Cry me a river! I won, and you lost, you're coming with me!"

Synergy growled one last time before he suddenly snickered. From there, he started laughing, laughing maniacally yet silently. Metal Sonic, confused, raised an eyebrow.

"What are you laughing at?"

"First off, I thought of a funny joke. Second, the only reason you won is because," Synergy suddenly jabbed his hand straight into Metal Sonic's chest, ripping into his circuits with his green-colored hands.

Appalled by Synergy's sudden act, Sonic gasped and got up on his feet, landing in a squatting position.

Synergy then pulled out the only reason Metal was able to win; A shiny red Chaos Emerald. Metal Sonic felt part of his systems shutting down, particularly his upgraded systems. He felt his power decreasing by the minute, as he slowly lowered himself onto his knees. His eyes glitched and his body shook like a maraca.

"Of this!" Synergy kicked the de-powered robot into the water on his back. He held the red emerald in his hand and analyzed its shiny texture. "A Chaos Emerald. I haven't seen one of these in a long time."

Sonic stood upward and clapped his fists against each other. "Hey, Emerl-Re-Color! Put that down!"

"You put up a good fight, Sonic. I will have to warn the Nocturnus Clan about you once I find them again."

"Listen, moron! The Nocturnus Clan are gone! They're trapped in the Twilight Cage!"

"You sound like you're speaking the truth, but I prefer to see things with my own eyes. Farewell, Sonic the Hedgehog… oh, just in case you get any ideas about following me."

Synergy rolled into a ball again and copied Sonic's Homing Attack. He lunged himself at the hedgehog, who jumped over the Gizoid, crashing against the wall. Synergy came flying back towards him again, but all Sonic did was duck underneath him, the Gizoid whacked the wall again. Sonic kicked Synergy out of his ball form and watched him skid across the water.

"Wow, your aim's as terrible as your design!" Sonic joked. Synergy, in a spin ball, charged at Sonic again, but he hit the wall twice.

He landed back to where he was originally and chuckled. **(6)**

Sonic raised an eyebrow, curious as to why his new enemy was laughing until he figured it out. The walls of the caverns slowly began to shake, making a roaring sound that sounded like someone snoring. The caves roared louder and louder, as multiple shards of crystals, joined with large pieces of rubble, collapsed into the water. Sonic quick-stepped side to side, avoiding as many boulders and shards as he could. His speed didn't save him, unfortunately, as he felt his head the main target of a large rock. He fell on the ground and felt many more rocks, pebbles, and crystals pile on top of him. Soon enough, he was completely covered in debris, giving Synergy the chance to walk away with the Chaos Emerald. **(6s)**

" _Phew!_ Glad that's over with," Synergy began walking towards the door, leading to the tomb he was trapped in for so long. "One Chaos Emerald down, six more to… go?" he looked down at his hand and noticed that the red gem was no longer there. "What? Where did it go?"

He checked the water below him in case he might have dropped it, but he couldn't find the emerald anywhere. "Did I drop it in the water?... No? Where is it?"

There was only one place he didn't check; the pile of rubble he buried Sonic in. He glanced up and the big mess he made in the caves. There was no possible way he could find the emerald in there, but he needed to try, otherwise; he would go back to Imperator Ix empty handed, something he didn't want to do. He moaned and facepalmed himself, as he walked over to the rubble and started picking up the rocks, tossing them to the side piece by piece.

Pick up. Put down. Pick up. Put down. He did this to all the rocks for what felt like hours when it was actually a few seconds. He was impatient about finding the emerald because he didn't want to return to his clan looking like a loser. He picked them up and put them down again, when suddenly, he heard the voice of a female.

"Sonic!? Is that you down there?" it was Amy Rose.

Synergy jerked his head over his shoulder and gasped, he became paranoid.

Someone was coming down, possibly a friend of Sonic's, meaning he needed to act fast. Otherwise, his clan would shun him for coming back with no Chaos Emeralds in hand. Synergy tossed the rocks over his shoulder, ignoring the sound of them splashing into the puddles of water. He started muttering to himself, trying not to panic.

"Come on, come on, come on! Don't fail! Don't fail! Don't fail! Where is it? Where is it!? _Where is it!?_ "

"Hey, I hear someone's voice down there," Mighty the Armadillo's voice came closer to the cavern.

"No, no, no, no!" Synergy whispered, getting more scared that someone other than Sonic might discover him and possibly stop him from his quest. "Darn it! Where is the darn Chaos Emerald!"

"Hey, who's down there?" Tails' voice reached the entrance of the cavern.

Synergy placed his hands against his head, trying to calm himself down. He panted and panted until he finally decided to give up. He jumped off the rubble and ran across the water, tripping and falling into the mud in the process.

"Sonic!?" Amy called again.

Synergy pushed himself up and bolted right out the door, making his way to the exit.

Tails, carrying Amy, flew down from the waterhole in the ceiling along with Ray, who was carrying Mighty. All of them landed in the water and looked around the semi-beautiful environment. They would have appreciated the scenery a lot more if it didn't look like the aftermath of a fight. All four of them glanced around their area, looking for any signs of their blue friend.

Mighty's foot accidentally hit something on the ground. He turned his eyes to the object and jumped back as soon as he saw that he hit Metal Sonic. Ray walked up to him and looked down at well, letting out a quick gasp.

Tails entered the circle around Metal Sonic and stroked his chin. "Metal? What's he doing here?"

Amy, walking around the caves, gasped with a worried tone. She cupper her hands over her mouth because she noticed the pile of rubble in front of her, worried that Sonic was underneath there. "Sonic!" she shouted in worry. "Are you okay!?"

Mighty, Ray, and Tails ran behind Amy and jumped onto the rock pile, tossing, flipping, chucking, and throwing rocks all over the place. The armadillo punched the rock pile, creating a couple of cracks in the pile. He tossed them to the side until he found Sonic's arm sticking between two rocks.

"Hey!" he shouted. "I found him!"

Tails and Mighty worked together and pulled Sonic out of the rubble with all their might. As soon as they got him out, Amy and Ray took note that the blue blur was covered in black bruises, mud, and dirt. His fur was soaking wet and his eyes were closed. A red Chaos Emerald was clutched in between his fingers. He took it from Synergy when he kicked him out of his ball form. The yellow-orange fox took the emerald out of Sonic's hands and tossed it to Ray before he wrapped Sonic's shoulder around his neck.

Amy did the same thing for the other side, assisting Tails in carrying him down the rock pile. Mighty and Ray helped carry Sonic to the bottom, as they all laid him down on solid ground. Mighty gently pushed everyone to the side, trying to give Sonic some room, as he laid his ears against the hedgehog's chest.

Bu-bump. Bu-bump. Bu-bump. Sonic's heartbeat was still active.

Mighty released a calm sigh, as he leaned back up and informed the others. "He's okay."

Everyone took a breath of relief, but they were still worried about his injuries.

"Let's get him back to my house," Tails wrapped his brother's shoulder over his neck. Amy did the same thing. "He needs rest."

"Stupid Metal Sonic," Amy snarled. "He's going to pay for this!"

* * *

 **(7)**

Pant. Pant. Pant.

 _Come on, Synergy, come on!_

Run. Run. Run.

 _What am I going to do? What are they going to say!?_

Stomp. Stomp. Stomp.

 _I really hope no one's following me! Come on, think happy thoughts! Think happy thoughts!... Gah, happy thoughts aren't working!_

Synergy ran into a corner of the temple and tripped on his own feet. He fell on the ground, but he got up and continued running. He prayed that none of the voices he heard noticed that he was trying to escape. He prayed that he wasn't being followed and he prayed that his clan wouldn't punish him for coming home with nothing to give to them. He ran and ran down the temple until he came across a nearly broken wall.

He pulled his fist back and punched straight through the wall, the blazing sunlight blinded his blue eyes.

The robot dashed across the grassy fields, ignoring the beautiful scenery that he's missed for a millennium. He rubbed his eyes and screamed into the air, scared of the consequences that he'll suffer through as soon as he gets home. He stopped dead in the middle of his tracks and looked over his shoulder.

The temple's exit was empty, nothing but pitch-black darkness illuminated by the sun was standing inside the exit. Synergy backed up a few steps and rubbed his head, scared. He was frightened of what happened in there. He thought he won that fight, but after losing the Chaos Emerald, he lost a bit of confidence within himself. He stopped backing up again and paused, his hands shaking, his body trembling with anxiety. He didn't know what to do next. He had nowhere to go, nowhere to run, and nowhere to hide. He was lost… or so he thought initially. He may not have anything to give to Nocturnus Clan, but he wanted to see if they were still alive. Sonic kept telling him that he defeated them some time ago, but he wasn't sure if that was true or false. It was at that moment where he decided to head back to the place he came from; the Mystic Ruins.

He ran down a pathway of grass, jumped in the air, and blasted off through the skies, hoping to reunite with his people. **(7s)**

 _ **END OF CHAPTER 3**_

* * *

 _Sonic's been injured, and Synergy has escaped. Could things get any worse? But hey, at least Sonic managed to steal back a Chaos Emerald, right? Unfortunately, Synergy's still out on the loose, planning to reunite with the Nocturnus Clan so they can take over the world. Or at least, that's what he thinks. What will he find out when he gets to the Mystic Ruins? Will Sonic recover and stop him in time?_

 _Find out as Synergy explores a new world in "Chapter 4: Into the Great Wide Open"_

* * *

 _ **POST-A/N:**_

 _I don't want to spoil who Knuckles was calling during his scene, but I will drop a small hint. The character is based on an obscure Sonic character. One, who cannot make another appearance because of legal issues SEGA went through._

 _Synergy's Chaos Emulation is based off the powers of the Gizoid from Fleetway's Sonic the Comic. The Gizoid, in that series, had a Chaos Emulation and a Knuckles Emulation. Something Synergy will have in the course of this story._

 _Special thanks to Infinite's Ruby for helping me with some of the dialogue exchanges here. You should all check out their stories. They're awesome! The Illusionary Resistance, The Wolf and the Jackal, and Hidden Doubts are some of my favorites from them._

 _Don't forget to leave your thoughts down below. I'm the Sensational SpiderDom321, and I'll see you all next time!_


	4. Into the Great Wide Open Pt 1

_**A/N:** Special thanks to TGN, Alexandria Prime, SharpDragonKlaw, Infinite's Ruby, MelGamingPlays, MysteriousGirl92, for leaving a review on this story. Someone else left a review as well, but it was more of constructive criticism with a bit of hate in there. To the person who sent me that review, Thanks for the help, but the hate wasn't cool. If you don't like this, move along. This isn't the droid you're looking for. But to those of you who favorited and/or followed. Thank you for being there and actually helping me._

 _Just a heads up, I won't be around for a while because I have Midterms next week and I am working on a Stop Motion Satire Compilation for my Creative Writing class. So I am going to be busy for a bit. Also, this chapter goes out to my co-writer, Infinite's Ruby. She's not feeling so good so I want to make her feel better. If you haven't checked out her stories already, I suggest you do. ;) Feel better, Ruby!_

 _There is also a new poll up on my profile regarding the person Knuckles is trying to call. Pay close attention to the little hints hidden in here because some people have gotten fooled in the poll section. One of the answers may make you laugh, btw!_

 _Without further ado, enjoy the show!_

 ** _Suggested Music:_**

 ** _(1) Tornado Defense (1st Battle) - Sonic Unleashed OST_**

 ** _(2) Dire, Dire Docks - Super Mario 64 OST_**

 ** _(3) Lazy Days - Sonic Adventure OST_**

* * *

 **Into the Great Wide Open: Part 1**

 **(1)**

A gentle afternoon breeze flowed through the skies, causing Synergy to feel slightly better about himself about the events that happened not too long ago. He shook his head as he flew through the skies, mentally kicking himself. The logic of letting that Chaos Emerald go instead of taking it for himself was lost to him. He wondered why he didn't just encounter the sources of those voices like the destructive robot he was created to be.

He placed his hand on his forehead and shook his head again, feeling crestfallen that the emerald that could have benefitted him and his people was still in the Sylvania Castle Zone.

He flew across the skies to get his mind cleared up, hoping to not dwindle on the past and start worrying about the future.

As his jet-boosters pushed him long the azure blue sky, he began to admire the beautiful sun that reflected off his blue colors. He looked at his grassy green hands and shook them a little bit, watching a few drops of mud descend all the way down to the surface below.

He wiped his sky-blue eyes and saw that his hands were dirty, he barely made out the green paint on his palms. As he continued flying, he began to think about his next move.

"Before I head back to my people and suffer my consequences," he said to himself. "I should probably get cleaned up first."

The lost Gizoid was about to say something else about his people, but suddenly, he heard a strange noise coming behind him. He jolted his head back, thinking someone was following him, but he saw nothing. He was about to turn his head back to the front direction, but the noise caused him to look back.

The sound of his jet-boosters short-circuiting were one of the many noises in the area. The circuits and wires from behind cracked, blending in with the sound of an alarm. Synergy was about as himself what was wrong until he saw a red screen show up in his system.

The screen read, _"Warning! Warning: Power level reaching minimum level! Repairs Needed!"_

"Well, that's not good."

The screen went away. Synergy suddenly went from gliding across the skies to falling down through the clouds, the gentle wind suddenly went at a high velocity, due to how fast he was falling towards the surface.

Spin. Spin. Spin. Synergy started flipping toward while twirling along his side. He knew that as soon as he reached the surface, his landing was going to hurt _badly._

He started screaming at the highest pitch of his voice, as he tried to regain control of himself. He sadly couldn't do that whatsoever.

To somewhat sooth the soon to be pain he'll get from landing, he curled up into a ball and wrapped his arms around his body, tucking his legs into his elbows. He almost looked like a ball that was dropped from a really tall height.

He kept spinning and spinning around in the air when he eventually reached the ground, however, the landing wasn't as severe as he expected it to be. **(1s)**

Instead of landing on the dirt, he landed in something that felt liquid like, something that caught his fall, something that was making him drift down into a beautiful, crystal clear, environment with all sorts of creatures lurking around, eating plants and hiding behind rocks; Synergy has fallen into the water, particularly the fresh water from the Mystic Ruins. **(2)**

He uncurled from his cannon ball state and looked around the area, watching as fish swam away from him in fear. A red fish and two blue fish. Before they left, they turned around and gave the Gizoid a strange look, gazing at him as if he was a man from outer space.

Synergy awkwardly waved to the fish, receiving no waves back from them. They swam away.

The Gizoid lifted his arms upward and spread out his legs, swimming underneath the deep blue lake. More fish of a variety of colors gave him the same looks as the other fish, they didn't expect to see a strange land creature swimming in their territory. Synergy chose to ignore the stares because he was focused on one thing; getting himself cleaned up.

He came across a green plant, it was stuck between the rocks on the bottom of the lake.

Synergy swam up to it and ripped it off, he thought he could use it as a towel to clean off this rust and mud with.

Rub. Rub. Scrub. Scrub. He wiped the plant all over his back, but all he did was rip the plant in half. He grunted in silence and let go of the planet, watching it float around him. Just as he went to look for another way to clean himself, a fishing line latched onto his head, getting caught underneath the fin on his head.

"Hmm?" he mumbled, reaching back to see what magically attached to him. **(2s)**

But before he pulled it off, he was roughly tugged back a few feet. He stopped for a quick second before he went backward again. He began to wave his arms around the water, attempting to swim away from the problem. But no matter how fast he swam, the strength of the line overpowered him.

Finally, the line won the battle and started pulling him across the rocks, Synergy bumped his rear end across the rocks as he kept splashing around at a rapid speed. The fishing line suddenly pulled him out of the water and shot him into the air, listening to the screams he was letting out.

The Gizoid crashed onto a boardwalk, landing on his stomach, where he heard the gasp of someone right in front of him.

A fisherman ran up to him and removed the fishing line from his fin.

"You're the weirdest looking fish I've ever seen," **(3)**

Synergy grunted because of the fisherman's lack of an apology. How could the fisherman confuse him for a fish? He didn't look like a sea creature. And why did he receive an apology from the fisherman?

He raised his head, preparing to say something rude back to the fisherman, but he changed his mind about the comment as soon as the fisherman offered him his hand.

"Wait a second, you're not a fish."

The Mobian who mistook the Gizoid for a sea creature was none other than the jolly purple giant; Big the Cat. He was standing in front of the Gizoid with his hand out, wanting to help him get back up on his feet. Synergy looked up and down at the large cat, noticing that he was a lot burly than most Mobians he's seen in his lifetime. He also took notice that the cat was wearing small sandals that exposed most of his bulky feet.

Synergy gazed into Big's large yellow eyes, the cat waited for the robot to grab his hand.

"Are you okay?" Big asked the stranger. "Sorry I mistook you for a fish, I hope I didn't hurt you."

After hearing the cat's humble apology, Synergy assumed that Big was a gentle giant, something he's never come across before. He wrapped his fingers around the cat's hand, Big pulled him off the ground

He was back on his feet, he humbly bowed and thanked the cat. "Thanks for the assist and I accept your apology. I didn't realize this territory belonged to you."

"Yeah, I've been living here for a while. It's pretty nice and cozy here." Big turned his head to the robot, wanting to know who he is. "Say, what's your name?"

"My name is CD-2003, but everyone calls me Synergy."

"Synergy? That name sounds fancy… I like it! Nice to meet you, Synergy!" the cat roughly shook the Gizoid's hand. "My name's Big, Big the Cat."

Big stopped shaking the robot, letting him go. Synergy stumbled around the wooden dock before regaining his balance. "Nice to meet you, Big."

"Hey, I hope you don't take offense to this, but you look dirty."

"I've noticed."

"Were you trying to take a bath? I'm sorry I interrupted you,"

Synergy sat down on the dock and slid his body back into the water. "No need for apologies, it's not your fault. I'm sure if I swim in here long enough, all the rush will flow off me. But do you, by any chance, have any cleaning tools I can borrow?"

"Yes! I can get you a rag and some soap!"

"Great, thanks!"

Big walked back into his cabin to fetch the stranger some soap and a rag. While he was doing that, Synergy laid down in the water, floating on his back. He gazed his eyes into the beautiful afternoon sky, the sun was partly covered by the leaves from the trees. Not only was Synergy underneath a light blue sky, but he was in a perfect shady spot. **(3s)**

He rested his body in the water and let out a sound of relaxation.

"How I missed this," he said to himself. He continued his moment of peace, hoping that it would last forever. "Welcome home, Synergy… welcome home."

Froggy, who crawled off Big's shoulder, hopped on Synergy's head. He let out a small noise before he stood on the Gizoid's eyes.

"Would you mind getting off my eyeballs, please?"

* * *

Under normal circumstances, evenings in Emerald Town would be usually be a peaceful shelter for the three Freedom Fighters that live there, Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower, and Amy Rose. They would often walk around, waving to the town's residents before they went home for a good night sleep. The blue hedgehog would maintain a silent vigil of the night in case Dr. Eggman stuck his big, pointy nose into the town's territory, the fox would work on some late-night experiments in his laboratory, and the pink hedgehog would sit at home and dream about being with her crush, Sonic, someday. Emerald Town was a place that these heroes were proud to call home.

However, this evening, the three heroes were in no mood to head to sleep, Well, all except Sonic, who was already fast asleep in a bed, two red and blue blankets were draped over his body, leaving his head and arms exposed.

He was currently resting inside of Tails' house, where he was kept under the watchful eye of Amy Rose. The owner of the house, Tails, was in the corner of the room, typing on his computer.

Amy let out a low sigh, as she dug her hand underneath Sonic's cheek, stroking him with a gentle touch. She wished she could have found him sooner before he was trampled with God knows how much weight he was underneath. She was angry that Metal Sonic trapped him under a pile of rocks and stone, and she couldn't do anything but sit next to the man she loved ever since her childhood days.

When she got down there and saw Metal Sonic laying on the ground, broken and useless, she wished that he was still active so that she could smack him with her hammer. She prayed that Metal Sonic was still active, which sounds like a bad thing to think about, but she wished for him to be alive because she wanted to give the metallic beast a piece of her mind.

But of course, Sonic thrashed Metal Sonic and won, but the hero didn't make it out of the caverns unharmed. Amy sighed again before she grunted. "Curse you, Metal Sonic!" she said. "When I get my hands on you, you're going to wish you were never created!"

"Relax, Amy," Tails replied to her threat. He turned his chair around and got up from his soft, pillow-like, seat. He walked up to Amy and placed his white glove on her shoulder. "Like I said a while ago, Sonic's fine. He just needs some rest."

"But aren't you worried about him!? Metal Sonic hurt him!"

"Of course, I'm worried! He's my best friend… but something tells me Metal Sonic didn't cause that accident."

"What do you mean?" Amy raised an eyebrow, she was confused.

"Before we left, I saw some weird footprints in the mud, I don't know how to describe their shape, but they were weird looking. I have a strong inference that someone was down there with Sonic and Metal."

"If that's the case, who could it be?"

"I'm not sure."

Sonic suddenly lifted one eyelid up and moaned, causing the fox and the female hedgehog to turn around. Amy slowly gasped in excitement as soon as she saw her boyfriend move an inch upward, Tails wiped a drop of sweat from his forehead.

"Hey, guys," Sonic smirked, he felt pain in his body as soon as he moved. "Long time no see,"

"Sonic!" Amy stamped her body on top of Sonic's chest, pulling him close. "You're okay!"

"Ow! Easy, Amy!"

Amy released the hedgehog as soon as she heard him wince. "Sorry, does it hurt?"

"Ha-ha… it only hurts when I move or talk… or think."

"Sonic, this is serious! You could have been killed!"

Tails gently sat next to Amy and patted her shoulder. "What Amy means to say is, are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. That guy put up a good fight, I'll give him that. He's one tough little sucker." Sonic suddenly gasped as soon as he remembered that Synergy, the Gizoid he fought against in the caves, discovered a Chaos Emerald inside Metal Sonic's body. "The Chaos Emerald! He has it!"

"Metal Sonic? No, he doesn't. We took it from him," Tails smiled, attempting to calm Sonic's nerves down. "We gave it to Mighty and Ray for safe-keeping. Speaking of them, they went back home after the fight. I promised to tell them when you were awake. I should probably do that right now." he got up from his seat and walked to his computer, picking up his Miles Electric from his desk. As he jotted down a message to Mighty and Ray, Sonic asked another question.

"What about Cream and Cheese? Are they okay?" he asked.

"G-merl took Cream and Cheese back home," Amy replied, she got an ice pack from Tails' mini-freezer and placed it on Sonic's head. "They left as soon as we entered the temple."

"What about Synergy, did you catch him?"

Amy stopped smiling and looked at her crush, befuddled. Synergy? Who was he talking about? She looked at Tails, who heard that strange name as well. The two of them shared an addled glance before turning their heads back to Sonic.

"Who?" Amy asked.

Sonic leaned up, he let out a light cough. "That blue and green Gizoid that was down there? You caught him, right?"

"Sonic, you must have hit your head really hard," Amy pressed her hand against Sonic's head. She noticed that his head was almost warm. "How many fingers am I holding up?" she held up three fingers.

"Three, Amy, and you guys didn't see him? There was a Gizoid down there!"

"A Gizoid?" Tails raised an eyebrow. "Like the same robot type G-merl is?"

"Yeah!"

"Wait a minute, you saw an actual, real-working Gizoid in that tomb!?"

"Finally, we're on the same page!"

"Step backward for a minute, what happened when you and Eggman got trapped?"

Sonic scratched the back of his head, his moaned when he moved his shoulder. "Well, it's a long story, guys. Some strange Gizoid, who bears a resemblance to Emerl, woke up from a long slumber thanks to Metal Sonic's Maximum Overdrive thingamajigger. He mentioned something about taking over the world, so I reluctantly teamed up with Metal Sonic to take him down. To no one's surprise, Metal wanted to take him back to Eggface, so he could be used for his new scheme of the week. Then Synergy yanked a Chaos Emerald out of Metal Sonic's chest, I was able to get it back before he buried me in rubble. Then he heard your voices, so he escaped before any of you got here. So that's what happened, basically."

Tails and Amy stared at Sonic awkwardly. How would they respond to that? A Gizoid that looked like Emerl was roaming around Mobius, possibly planning his next move in his quest for world domination. The two of them shared the same looks they gave to Sonic before their jaws dropped down to the carpet. Sonic shook his head at the sight of his friends' eyes, he knew they would have this kind of reaction.

But the two-tailed fox wasn't totally convinced. He didn't think his best friend was telling a lie, but he wanted to know more information about this robot. "What does Synergy look like?" he asked. "You said he looked like Emerl?"

"Yes, he looks like Emerl, but that little shark fin on his head was a bit different compared to Emerl's."

"Did he have the same powers as Emerl?"

"Yes… sort of… during the fight, he dove into the water and came back, looking like one of Chaos' super forms or something."

"Okay, so he's a Gizoid who not only looks like Emerl, but he has the biodata of Chaos… yeah, he's a threat."

"Exactly!" Sonic waved his hands in the air and plopped them down on the bed. "Which is why _I_ need to go out there and stop him!" he tried to get up, but the pain in his chest prevented him from getting off the bed. "Ow!"

"Sonic, you need to rest," Amy said, she gently pushed Sonic's head down on the pillow. She then laid the blankets on his body.

"I don't need rest! There's a dangerous robot out there and I need to stop him!"

"I know you do, but you need some rest!"

"Rest is for slow-pokes, and I ain't no slowpoke! I need to get back out and show Synergy what I'm really made of-!"

Just at that moment, Tails' blood boiled to its highest temperature, allowing him to do something he would never do; snap. " _You're not going anywhere! You were already caught off guard once, I'm not going to let that happen to you again!"_

A moment of silence fell into the room, Sonic and Amy gasped and turned their heads to Tails. Never before have they ever seen him explode like that before. The fox panted a few more breaths before he realized the stares his friends were giving to him. He widened his eyes and took a few steps back, appalled that he had the nerve to say something like that in an angry tone, especially in front of Sonic.

He opened the door behind him and ran outside.

Amy and Sonic heard the door slam shut, they knew something was wrong with Tails, but they didn't know what. The latter was going to figure out the answer, as he stepped off the bed and began heading towards the door. Before he placed his hand on the doorknob, Amy stopped him by grabbing his shoulder.

"Sonic, don't do what I think you're going to do," she pleaded with a gentle voice.

"Relax, Amy," Sonic replied. "I'm not… I'm just going to talk to him."

The blue hedgehog pulled away from Amy and opened the door. As soon as he stepped outside, the evening sun glared into his emerald green eyes. He shielded himself from the blazing sunlight and found Tails sitting by the sidewalk, his hands were cupped over his face and his knees were up to his elbows.

It was clear he felt horrible for treating his brother in the way he did.

Sonic slowly limped over to him and sat down next to him. Tails removed his face from his hands and let out a low sigh, he quickly turned away, embarrassed to look at his brother after the way he acted towards him.

"If you came out here to yell at me, go ahead," Tails sighed.

"Tails, if I wanted to yell, I would say something that would change this story's rating," Sonic chuckled. "But seriously, what's wrong? I know that wasn't you back there. What happened?"

Tails faced his brother and told him the truth. "Ever since the Phantom Ruby War, I've been worried about you. Infinite and those Phantom Clones caught you off guard, I was scared and useless during that entire war!... hearing you talk about Synergy defeating you brought back memories about that day, the day I lost you… I don't want that to happen again."

Sonic wrapped his arm around Tails' shoulder, pulling him close for a one-armed hug.

Tails wrapped his arms around Sonic's body, hugging him close. "I'm sorry, Sonic, I shouldn't have shouted at you like that."

Sonic patted his brother's shoulder and rubbed his head. "Tails, listen… we've had a few close calls, but we've out of them fine in the end, right?"

Tails sniffed, smiling. "Yeah, I guess."

"I know Synergy's on my mind right now, but I'll be careful when I see him next time… I promise."

Tails smiled and hugged his brother one last time before letting him go. "Okay, thanks, Sonic."

"If you're so worried, you can always come with me."

Tails raised his head, pointing his face towards Sonic's green eyes. "Yeah! Just like old times!"

"Exactly! First thing in the morning, we'll go out and look for Synergy! Just you and me!"

"Ha-ha! I would love that!"

After sharing another moment of silence, Sonic and Tails got up on their feet and started walking back to the house. The two brothers have rekindled and were ready for a night's long sleep.

The sun was starting to set, and the moon began to rise.

* * *

In the southern-hemisphere of Mobius lied an urban metropolis and a melting pot of diverse folk and ideas, where those who dream of making it big gather. This area was known as Empire City, a peaceful home of many people who wish to express their political, social, and economic ideas. This area is the resting place and headquarters of Honey Clothing, owned by an energetic saleswoman named Honey the Cat. She was sitting on her office, waiting for Knuckles the Echidna to come and approve of the new Resistance clothing line she's set up to support their efforts on reconstructing Mobius. She tapped her boots against the ground and she twirled her black ponytails.

She glanced at her silver watch and waited for the commander of the Resistance to show up to her office. She turned over her shoulder and looked out her window, the moon rose high above the city. The bright lights that shined from the buildings illuminated the darkness, making the city more beautiful. Honey let out a low sigh, as she watched the moon and the stars in the sky. They were beautiful. She saw her reflection through the window, it was looking back at her. The stars and moon shined back at her, telling her that Knuckles will show up soon. She felt guilty for calling the meeting at such a late timeslot, but due to her busy schedule, she figured this was the only time this could work. She straightened her hair out and adjusted her red dress, praying that this sales meeting goes well.

Within a few minutes, the door opened with a whooshing sound. Knuckles the Echidna walked though the door, guided by a female Manx with brown fur and cream skin. Her attire included larged sneakers, a tight tube top, and tight jeans. This left her belly bare, revealing a small belly button. She wore her brown hair in a ponytail. She walked Knuckles to Honey. "Ms. Cat," she said politely. "Here is Knuckles the Echidna,"

"R-really!?" Honey turned away from the window. She screamed in excitement and ran over to Knuckles.

The echidna stuck out his hand for a hand-shake. "Hi, Honey, it's nice to meet- _Ah!_ "

The bright yellow cat ignored his hand-shake and hugged him tightly, almost to the point where Knuckles heard his own lungs crack. Honey giggled and pulled him closer.

"Okay… would you mind letting me go, please? I don't do hugs."

Honey freed Knuckles from his uncomfortable moment, as the cat giggled in an apologetic fashion. "Sorry!" she cleared her throat. "That'll be all, Ms. Tiara Boobowski. Thank you!"

"You're welcome, boss," Tiara the Manx walked back to the elevator and closed the door. A small ringing indicated she went back downstairs.

"My apologies, Commander," said Honey. She walked behind her desk and poured herself two cups of iced tea. She gave one to herself and another one to Knuckles. The Commander drank from his cup. "I always get excited when I meet celebrities."

"I never considered myself a celebrity, but I appreciate your enthusiasm," said Knuckles. He placed his drink down and wiped his mouth. "So, what did you want to talk to me about? You said something about a Resistance Fashion line?"

Honey quickly placed down her drink after her last sip. She wiped her mouth and nodded her head. "Yes! I've been designing clothes that'll get people to support the Resistance's Reconstruction Plan. Come, I'll show you what they look like!"

The overexcited cat grabbed the echidna's hands and dragged him over to the left side of the room. From there, she led to a gallery room that was filled with a bunch of manikins. All the manikins were modeling the clothes that Honey and her company designed for the Resistance clothing series. Honey dragged Knuckles down the gallery, the latter admired many of the rich silk textures that were placed on the models. There were black hoodies with the Resistance star in the center, various colored hats that said the word, _"Gamer."_ There were also three types of colored sweat pants; red, blue, and black, they have red and stripes running down the right pant leg, a Resistance logo was seen striking down the leg.

But if there were a few things that caught the commander's purple eyes, they were the T-shirts.

There were a few multi-colored shirts that read, _"I'm with the Resistance"_ on the front, and on the back, they said, _"Do you know where the Computer Room is?"_

Knuckles cringed at some of these lines, probably because he didn't care a whole lot about fashion as much as people like Amy Rose. He was about to tell Honey his thoughts about the clothes until she came up to him with a bright green with words written in purple colors, printed in a bold font.

The line read, _"I survived Operation: Big Wave."_

"Wow, as if I needed a reminder of that day," Knuckles whispered to himself.

"What do you think of these, Commander? Here, why don't you try some on!"

"No, no, that's okay. I'm good- _Whoa!_ "

Honey grabbed Knuckles' hand again and dragged him to a mirror that sat at the end of the gallery. She placed him right in front of the object, as she reached behind her and picked through the hoodies she had on display. She found the black one with the Resistance logo on it, and she forcefully placed on the echidna's body. Put the hood up. And allowed him to check himself out.

"I don't think this is a good look for me." Knuckles said.

"That's because you don't have the glasses, silly goose," Honey the Cat giggled. She grabbed a pair of black sunglasses and placed them on Knuckles' eyes. "There, what do you think?" she gave him a smirk.

"I look like I'm about to rob a bank," Knuckles replied. He took off his hoodie and his glasses, putting them on a table of clothes next to them. "Listen, Honey… don't take this the wrong way, but I think you asked the wrong person to look at this stuff."

As soon as Knuckles said that, Honey gave him a frown. "You don't like it?"

"No, no," Knuckles motioned to her, not wanting her to think he hated the clothing. "I just think you asked the wrong person to check this out. In case you haven't noticed, I'm a guy. So, stereotypically, I'm not into this type of stuff. Though, I may be able to get Amy to help- "

Ring. Ring. Ring. Knuckles' wrist communicator went off.

He looked down at his right wrist and saw that he was getting a call from his second in command; Amy Rose.

"Speak of the devil," he said. "Do you mind if I take this?"

"Oh, oh, not a problem! Go!" Honey nodded her head.

Knuckles walked out of the gallery and headed straight for the closet. He opened the door and closed it shut, wanting some privacy for his call.

He pressed on his communicator and answered Amy's call. "What's up, Amy?"

"Hey, Knuckles, I need to talk to you for a sec… why are you in a closet?"

"I'm playing Honey's fashion model, what did you want to talk about?"

Amy let out a stressed-out sigh before she replied to Knuckles' query. "We were pursuing Eggman when he and Sonic got trapped in an ancient temple. Sonic and Metal Sonic were fighting when they suddenly encountered a strange Gizoid named Synergy, who has his own agendas to take over the world. He's says he was created by the Nocturnus Clan."

" _ **What!?**_ " Knuckles yelped at the top of his lungs, unaware that he scared the living hell out of Honey the Cat. "How is It possible there's a surviving Gizoid from the Nocturnus Clan that's still active!? I thought we wiped out every single Gizoid the Nocturnus Clan had, when we took down Imperator Ix."

"Apparently, Synergy was there for over 4,000 years and he doesn't even know it. He thinks that Ix and his people are still alive."

"Something tells me he's going to be mad when he finds out the truth; they're all dead."

"Exactly. Tails has a plan to capture Synergy, but he's asleep right now. Him and Sonic are planning on heading to the Mystic Ruins tomorrow morning."

"Makes sense, The Knuckles and Nocturnus Clans settled there a millennial ago. Tell them, I'll meet up with them tomorrow. And Amy, before you go, I have a mission for you."

"What is it?"

"I want you to gather the Resistance back together. Something tells me we're going to need them."

"You got it, Commander," Amy gave the echidna a smile and a wink, both followed by a thumbs up. "I'll see you tomorrow, Knuckles. Have a good night."

"Likewise, Amy," Knuckles nodded. He waved goodbye before hanging up the call. Prior to going back out there to talk to Honey, he decided to call that unknown caller that he's been trying to talk to ever since the Phantom Ruby War ended. He scrolled down to their icon and pressed it. Getting the same message as he did earlier today. He rolled his eyes and talked into the microphone.

"Hey, it's me again," he said. "We need to talk."

 _ **END OF CHAPTER 4**_

* * *

 _Who is Knuckles trying to contact? Are they willing to help him, or will they ignore his plea? And what's this, Synergy has made a new friend in Big the Cat? How will these two become best friends?_

 _Find out as more secrets are revealed in "Chapter 5: Into the Great Wide Open: Part 2"_

* * *

 ** _POST-A/N:_**

 _Sorry, this chapter wasn't much. Since a lot of action took place within the beginning of the story, I wanted to give you all a chance to cool down for a bit. Pacing is something I've been wanting to improve on for a while. It's good to have action, but sometimes, we need to sit down, grab a drink, and relax._

 _Since Cream and Cheese are usually the ones who befriend Gizoids like Emerl and G-merl, I decided to have Big befriend Synergy instead. Mainly because I have a brotherly moment between them planned in the next chapter. We will also see a soft side of Synergy throughout the course of the story._

 _Honey the Cat made her cameo in here and so did a character who never made an appearance in any Sonic game ever. Her name is Tiara Boobowski. She was a character that was supposed to be in a game called in Sonic X-Treme. She was supposed to be Sonic's equal, adding a little bit of "girl power" to the Sonic Series. Heck, she and Sonic were similar that they would eventually become an item. Unfortunately, Sonic X-Treme and Tiara Boobowski were destroyed once SEGA cancelled the former, meaning we never get to see this character at all. She's in a fan game called Sonic World, but other than that, we never see her at all. Though, for some reason, everyone that does know about her ships her with Shadow for some reason... who sails these types of ships?_

 _Sonic and Tails' brotherly moment was inspired by two things. That one scene from IDW Sonic the Hedgehog Issue #1 and a Chapter from a story called Revengeful Resistance by TGN. That story is a great way to retell the story of Sonic Forces in my opinion. For those who want to read a good Sonic Forces rewrite, read that one!_

 _Don't forget to favorite and follow and review once again. I'm the Sensational SpiderDom321 and I'll see you all next time! :D_


	5. Into the Great Wide Open Pt 2

_**A/N:** Special thanks to TGN, Infinite's Ruby, SharpDragonKlaw, starfiction123, and Alexandria Prime for leaving a review on this story. And special thanks to Rowan Jacobs, starfiction123, and stephanieeiche10 for leaving a follow on this story. Sorry, it took me a long time to update. No, I didn't get Writer's Block. I have this story planned out, I just had some personal stuff to deal with such as school midterms, visiting a sick relative, and publishing my Sonic Forces rewrite called "Sonic Heroes: The Atom Bomb." So don't worry, I'm not giving up on this story, as I do love working on this one a lot. _

_Also, thank you all for over 590 views and for 20+ reviews!_

 _Disclaimer: Sonic the Hedgehog is owned by SEGA (IDW Characters owned by SEGA and IDW Comics)_

 ** _Suggested Music:_**

 ** _(1) The World Adventure (Piano) - Sonic Unleashed OST_**

 ** _(2) Sky Chase Zone - Sonic the Hedgehog 2 OST_**

 _Without further ado, enjoy the show!_

* * *

 **Into the Great Wide Open: Part 2**

Somewhere, right beside Night Carnival Zone, sat a humble cottage. Inside the house, Cream the Rabbit, Cheese, and their best friend, G-merl were sitting on the couch. All three of them were in the middle of watching a movie about an ogre and a donkey teaming up together in order to save a princess from a fire breathing dragon. Quite a strange movie for someone as innocent as Cream to be watching, but she was a sucker for some classic computer animated movies.

She and G-merl laughed at the movie together, cracking up at the donkey's constant jokes and the ogre's reactions to them. Cheese let out a loud yawn before he laughed at the movie.

"Are you getting tired, Cheese?" Cream said softly, wrapping her hand around Cheese. The Chao cuddled beside the rabbit's lap. "Don't worry, the movie's almost over. I'll tuck you into bed soon… you know, G-merl, I've seen this movie with you many times, but I've never understood its message. What do you think it means?"

The black and yellow Gizoid turned his head towards Cream, gazing his blue eyes into her brown pupils. "Well, you see, Cream. I think this movie is trying to teach us about the wrongfulness about judging people by their appearances. Everyone looks at this ogre and calls him a monster because of the way he looks, but really, they miss the fact that he's a nice person underneath his green skin. Yeah, he wants to be left alone for most of the movie, but once he meets the princess, he starts to learn that he can be loved after all, no matter what he looks like."

Cream nodded her head, understanding the moral of the story. "Do people judge others by their appearances a lot?"

G-merl nodded his head slowly, giving her a sad response. "Unfortunately, yes… they do. I walk around and see people look at me as if I was an Eggman robot, which I was at one point if you remember," he leaned back on the couch and folded his arms. "They all turn to me and run away."

"You _used_ to be an evil robot, but you've been working so hard to prove you're trustworthy," Cream said softly. She placed her hand on G-merl's. "I don't view you as a mean person, in fact, next to Miss Amy and Miss Blaze, you're one of my best friends. It'll take time for people to forgive you, but I know you're not a bad robot."

At that moment, Cream pulled her Gizoid friend into a hug.

G-merl kindly returned his kindness by hugging her back. "Thanks, kiddo. You've always been so nice to me."

"I love you, G-merl."

"I love you too, kiddo."

Just then, Cream's mother, Vanilla walked into the room and saw the tired expression on her child's face. She tenderly turned off the TV and picked up her daughter. "It's time for bed, honey."

"Are you sure, Mommy?" Cream yawned. "I'm not tired."

"Nice try, sweetie," Vanilla chuckled. "It's time to go to bed. That goes for you too, G-merl dear."

"Yes, Ma'am," G-merl kindly nodded. He followed Cream, Cheese, and Vanilla all the way up to Cream's room. They opened the door and sat down beside Cream's bed. The humble mother tucked her underneath her purple covers and kissed her forehead, Cheese sat down on top of her best friend's head. G-merl placed himself in the corner; preparing to enter his Sleep Mode. "Goodnight, Ma'am."

"Goodnight, Mother," Cream smiled.

"Chao, chao!" Cheese smiled.

"Goodnight, you three," Vanilla shut the light off, exiting the room.

G-merl activated his sleep mode. Cream and Cheese closed their eyelids.

Like Sonic, Tails, and Amy, they were ready for a good night's sleep.

Unfortunately for G-merl… something was about to disturb him from his slumber.

" _Is it ready?"_ a voice in his head said.

" _Yes, sir. Project: Synergy is almost complete."_ said the other voice.

 _What?_ G-merl said in his thoughts. _Project… Synergy?_

" _Excellent… once Project: Synergy is done, We, the Nocturnus Clan shall conquer this world."_

 _What? Nocturnus Clan?... No, it can't be._

* * *

 _Scrub a dub dub in the tub._ Synergy chuckled to himself, as he washed most of the rust that has been on his body for hundreds of years, using the wash cloth that was kindly lent to him by Big the Cat.

Speaking of which, a gentle morning breeze flowed through the swamp of the Mystic Ruins, which caused Big and Froggy to wake up from yet another easy slumber. They looked out the window of their house and saw the Gizoid taking a bath in their pool. They noticed that he was close to being finished with cleaning himself. Big stretched his arms and yawned as loud as a lion's roar, Froggy had to cover his head with his front limbs every time he heard that.

Scratching his rear end, the chubby cat grabbed his fishing pole and his box of bait, walking out the door and greeting the Gizoid with a kind gesture. "Morning, Synergy,"

"Morning, Big," Synergy nodded, washing himself from head to toe. "I'm almost done with your wash cloth. I'll give it back to you in a few."

"No worries," Big smiled. He placed a worm on the tip of his fishing hook and pulled the rod back. Swinging it forward caused it to land softly into the water. Synergy noticed this and titled his head to the side. What was Big doing?

The robot stepped out of the water he was bathing in all through last night and scrubbed his chest plate; the last thing he needed to get clean. Scrub. Scrub. Wash. Wash. Synergy was able to clean his entire body thanks to the fresh water from the pool, and Big's wash cloth. He looked down at his body, relieved that he was able to look at his true colors again.

He was a light blue-colored Gizoid with a few dark blue features; his shoulders, feet, and wrists. The only light green parts of his body were his four-plated fin, his arms, and his wrists. Dark blue eyes gave him the ability to see and his chest plate was colored to match his arms and hands. Instead of being partly brown due to all the rust he had, he was back to his usual self.

"How do I look?" Synergy said to the cat, right before he took notice of what he was doing. He watched as the cat reeled in a fish that latched its jaw onto the bait. The cat took the creature off of his hook and tossed it in the bucket. Synergy walked over to the bucket, seeing the helpless little fish flop all around the bucket's walls. "What are you doing?"

"Fishing!" Big replied with a smile. "It's one of my favorite things to do. Do you like fishing?"

"I've seen my people do it, but I've never done it myself."

"Really?" Big said with a frown. How can one go through life without learning how to fish? "Come here, I'll show you, it's fun. It's a great stress reliever."

"Well, I did have a stressful day yesterday, so why not?"

Synergy walked onto the boardwalk and stood next to the purple cat. The latter handed the former his fishing rod, watching him analyze its features. The Gizoid gripped the lower end of the rod with the both of his hands, confused on how to hold the object. He squatted his legs apart and pulled his arm back, the line and hook draped across the wooden ground. Big raised an eyebrow, confused.

The robot flung his arms forward and accidentally chucked the entire rod a few feet away from him and Big. It would have been a pretty good throw if he was playing a sport like football or baseball, but sadly, that wasn't the case. Big jumped into the water and grabbed his rod, climbing back up to the boardwalk.

"Dang it!" Synergy kicked the ground in distrust. "I screwed it up!"

"That's all right," Big smiled. "No worries."

"No, it's not alright. How could I fail such a simple task!?" Synergy suddenly picked up a random log, beating it against his head. "Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Big said, he gently grabbed the log and chucked it over his shoulder.

" _Hey!_ " Synergy snarled, reaching his hands out. "Give me back my beating log!"

"You shouldn't do something like that," Big said. "You could hurt yourself."

Synergy was about to shout and yell at the cat for refusing to give the log back, but after a few seconds of thought, he kept his voice box shut. He took a minute to relax before explaining his actions to Big. "I apologize for my actions. Where I come from, if one was to fail a task from our leader, a punishment was required. That's why I was beating myself with a log."

Big's ears drooped down to his face. No one should deserve such harsh punishment. He wrapped his arm around the robot's shoulder and spoke to him, "That kind of punishment doesn't do any good," he told the robot. "It's okay to fail at some things in life. No one is perfect. Hurting yourself won't accomplish anything, it'll make the ones who care about you worry about your health, becoming concerned in the process."

Synergy's eyes pointed at Big's yellow pupils. The robot smiled on the inside.

"I may not know where you came from, but I think you're a nice person, and that's all that matters." Big continued talking. "Even if you're not perfect."

 _Wow… just wow._ Synergy thought to himself, flabbergasted. _Never in my entire life have I ever heard someone be so concerned with my health before. Back then, if you were injured, you were told to walk it off. No one ever came over to heal you back to health nor would they encourage you to get back up. For the record, it takes a while to get used to, but that was life back in the Nocturnus Clan. I have never heard a kind soul like this one be so worried about my health… hmm… perhaps I could convince him to join the Nocturnus Clan once I find them. But for now, I want to apologize for my actions as well as learn how to fish._

Taking a deep breath helped calm down Synergy's nerves, as the Gizoid placed a hand on Big's shoulder. "I can promise you, if I fail at doing something next time, I won't beat myself with a again," Synergy replied. "I didn't mean to make you worry about me. I apologize for my actions." _**(1)**_

"Apology accepted!" Big smiled, shaking Synergy's hand. He then motioned a _"Come here"_ signal to him. "Come on, I'll teach you how to fish! I know a trick that'll make it easier for you. It's a trick that's been passed down from Big to Big to Big! We call it… _The Astonishing Toss!_ "

Synergy jerked his head to the side, confused. "The Astonishing what?"

"The Astonishing Toss! Here, let me show you," Big placed his feet in the water and walked a few feet into the shallow pool. Synergy followed behind until the two of them stopped, they were standing in the border that separated the deep end from the shallow end. "Watch carefully,"

Big waved his arms calmly, trying to loosen his muscles. "You gotta be loose,"

He placed his arms against the crystal-clear water. "Relaxed… with your feet apart."

Big then flung the fishing rod forward, "Then, ten-o'clock!"

He tossed it backwards, "Two-o'clock!"

He began to twirl the fishing rod around him as if it was a bo-staff, "Quarter to three! Tour jete! Twist, over, pas de deux, I'm a little teapot, and the windup!" The fishing line shot far behind the cat, extending to limits it has never reached before. The line went so far, it was able to fling over the tallest trees into the Mystic Ruins. Turning his eyes towards the fishing line, Synergy was curious to see how far it could go.

"And let her fly!" Big shouted.

In the blink of an eye, the fishing rod came back to Big, this time, it flung across the lake. Bypassing all of the trees.

"The Astonishing Toss!" Big smiled, Synergy stroked his chin; clearly impressed.

A file of data named "The Astonishing Toss" was pasted into Synergy's systems; he copied the move to his Skill List.

"Here, would you like to reel the fish in if you catch one?" Big asked, offering the fishing rod to Synergy.

"Sure," Synergy tenderly took the rod from Big's hands. Holding it firmly in his hands, he took a step forward and waited for a fish to come to him.

To his surprise, it didn't take long for the rod to tug him forward; something latched onto the hook.

"Wow, already!?" Synergy asked. He pulled on the rod. "That was fast!"

"Come on, Synergy! Reel it in!" Big cheered for his new friend. "You can do it! Reel it in, reel it in!"

"I'm trying!"

Synergy pulled on the rod, trying to catch whatever was on the other side. But as he tried, something pulled him forward. Whatever was on the other side of that line didn't want to be captured. The Gizoid pulled the rod towards him again, but the line tugged him in the front direction. He almost tripped and fell into the water. Thankfully, his strength and determination to catch the fish kept him going. He wasn't going to give up on this fish.

"You can do it, Synergy! Just pull!" Big called.

Synergy tugged, pulled, and yanked the fishing rod towards him.

Splash. Splash. Splash. Something came out of the water.

Big and Synergy gasped, as the latter reeled in whatever was on the other side. The two friends finally got to see what it was.

It was a fish that was no bigger than someone's pinky finger; possibly the smallest fish in the entire lake.

However, that didn't matter to someone like Synergy. All he did was look at the fish with the uttermost glee in his eyes. One might say that he could have done better, but since he was a war Gizoid who never had any time to kick back and catch fish, he felt happy to discover a new hobby. As with Big, he couldn't be any prouder.

"You did it, Synergy!" Big cheered, hugging the Gizoid tightly. "You caught your very first fish!"

"Y-yeah! Yeah, I did!" Synergy said in a happy tone. "Hey, Big… can we do this again?"

Big smiled as his reply to Synergy's question. Finally, somebody to fish with him. He might have just found a brand-new best friend. _**(1s)**_

* * *

 _ **(2)**_ Somewhere over the Mystic Ruins, Sonic the Hedgehog and his best friend; Miles "Tails" Prower, were flying over the skies using Tails' iconic invention; The Tornado. The two of them were on a hot pursuit for Synergy after the hedgehog told the fox about him last night. Sonic and Tails have decided to travel to the Mystic Ruins together because they wanted to spend time together as brothers, and they figured that since Synergy was built in the Mystic Ruins by the Nocturnus Clan, this would be the first place he would go. Amy, despite wanting to capture Synergy, was told by Knuckles that she needed to gather the rest of the Resistance back together again. So, she didn't bother going with Sonic and Tails on their search. Joining forces, the two of them took the Tornado down to the forest.

The wind blew against thee blue blur's fur, giving him a nice gentle breeze on a cold autumn day.

Tails felt the cold air brush against him as well, he closed his eyes and sniffed the freezing oxygen in the air. The sun shined down on the Tornado and the clouds were scarce.

Both brothers got a nice view of the sky; the sky that was as blue as the fastest thing alive.

"How do you feel up there, Sonic?" Tails said from the driver's seat. He watched his brother, who was sitting on the front propeller, turn to him. Giving a thumbs up followed by a wink.

"Not too shabby," Sonic smiled. "Have you heard anything from Knuckles or Amy?"

"Knuckles says he's on his way, Amy told me Mighty and Ray came back to help us out. They're just about to look for the Chaotix in Blue Ridge." Tails typed on his Miles Electric, getting a topographical view of the Mystic Ruins below.

"Any sign of Synergy?"

"I'm accessing the satellite tower by my workshop, it should scan the area and tell me where he is."

"I hope Knuckles can get the Resistance back together soon, we're gonna need all of them if we wanna take down this Emerl wannabe!"

"Speaking of Emerl, do you think we should call G-merl in for this? He is built from Emerl's data and he is a Gizoid. Plus, he's our friend. He should know about this."

"G-merl could be useful for this fight, however, I'm afraid Cream might get involved. You know how close she was to Emerl. She really got upset when he turned evil. I don't want her to get Ultimate Emerl flashbacks."

"You have a point. Still, I think G-merl could help us out… what the fudge?"

"What's wrong?"

"What's that over there?"

Sonic turned his head over his shoulder, seeing the exact same thing Tails pointed at. The two of them were looking at a castle like tower beyond the clouds, a structure that looked cheaply made from limestone and brick. Not only that, but there was a sign on the side of the tower, a large banner with a picture of two skunks giving a thumbs up. One was a blue skunk and the other was a whitish/greyish skunk. Below their poses was a caption that said, _"Rough and Tumble: Kings of the Mystic, Baby!"_

Tails and Sonic shared a glance before making a left turn with the Tornado. Why was there a building in such a forest-heavy place like the Mystic Ruins? And better yet, who were Rough and Tumble?

The two brothers shared confused faces again.

"Rough and Tumble?" Sonic stroked his chin. "Sounds like names you'd hear in a circus."

"Something's not right," Tails said. "Construction in the Mystic Ruins? We better go see what's wrong."

"As much as I want to take down Synergy, the environment comes first. Let's do it to it, Tails!"

Tails turned the steering wheel and aimed the Tornado towards the ground. He and Sonic were heading off to investigate what was going on with the large tower. _**(2s)**_

 _ **END OF CHAPTER 5**_

* * *

 _So, it's obvious I changed this chapter a bit since I announced it in the last chapter. Obviously, two IDW characters will appear in Chapter 6 and G-merl's dream sequence will continue. Also, it's not too late to vote on my poll regarding the mysterious caller Knuckles is trying to contact. I think some key factors in this chapter and the whole story give it away. What will happen to our heroes in the next chapter? Find out in "Chapter 6: Ready to Crumble?"_

* * *

 ** _POST-A/N:_**

 _Special thanks to my co-writer, Infinite's Ruby as always for helping me with this chapter. I owe her a lot!_

 _I am sorry if this chapter was pretty boring, slow, and had a severe lack of action. I made this as a way to establish the relationship between G-merl and Cream as well as establish the soft side of Synergy. Most Sonic villains nowadays (Not including Eggman) are all about being edgy and being all "I'm gonna take over the world with my bland personality" or they're all like "I'M NOT WEAK!" I figured to add some personality to Synergy, I would give him a bit of a soft side._

 _A obvious Goofy Movie reference is made in here. I figured Big would be the one to reference that movie._

 _Thank you all so much for reading! Don't forget to leave a fav, follow, and a review! I'm The Sensational SpiderDom321 signing off! Bye!_

 _~SD321 (SpiderDom321)_


	6. Ready to Crumble?

_**A/N:** Special thanks to mi amigos, stephanieeiche10, Alexandria Prime, Infinite's Ruby, TGN, SharpDragonKlaw, and Ways for leaving reviews for this story. Especially Ways who sent his or her reviews for all five chapters at once. Thank you for that, my friend. As you all saw in the last chapter, Rough and Tumble made a cameo in the last one. So, now (after two calm before the storm chapters) things will start to go down hill again. Prepare to a rumble against Rough and Tumble in this action-packed of Awakened. Also, there is still time to vote on who the mysterious caller is. It's pretty obvious, but you can still vote._

 _Disclaimer: Sonic the Hedgehog and all other related properties are owned by SEGA (IDW Characters are owned by SEGA and IDW Publishing)_

 ** _Suggested Music:_**

 ** _(1) Boss Battle (Night) - Sonic Unleashed OST_**

 ** _(2) Dino Piranha (Fast) - Super Mario Galaxy OST_**

 _Without further ado, enjoy the show!_

* * *

 **Ready to Crumble?**

After spending minutes of running through the swamp, Sonic and Tails have gotten closer to the site where the tower was located. However, as they ran closer to the trees, they noticed that their good friend, Knuckles, was hiding behind some of the bushes. He was hiding from plain sight, wanting to get a good look at what was going on.

The two heroes slid down a slope and landed right next to him.

"Hey, there, Knuckles," Sonic smiled. "Whatcha doing?"

"Watching these two idiots act like jerks," Knuckles replied.

"What do you mean?" Tails inquired.

"Have a look," Knuckles replied.

Knuckles moved some of the bushes to the side and showed Sonic and Tails what he's been looking at since he got here. Right across from them, the two Mobian skunks from the poster were sitting by a wooden table, which was flooded with all sorts of food. Ranging from fruit and cakes. The two skunks were laughing and enjoying their cups of tea, acting as if they were kings of the world.

What made the scene even worse for Sonic and his friends was the fact that these two weren't alone.

They had a whole bunch of Mobians and humans working for them as their slaves. Their choice of clothing indicated that they weren't just normal people, they were forced to become employees for these two skunks. From where Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles were hiding, they saw that the male slaves were dressed like jesters and all the females were dressed in tropical bikinis and bathing suits. They were flapping giant leaves, sending cool air down the skunks' back.

The sounds of hammers banging, wrenches turning, bulldozers picking things up and putting them down, front loaders pushing objects to the side, and cranes lifting pieces of rock, and placing them onto of the towers.

All the workers were forced to create a castle for the two skunks so they would rule the Mystic Ruins as kings.

Speaking of the two skunks, they were laughing as if they thought of the funniest joke in the world. That was probably because they did tell the funniest joke in the world.

Their laughter was suddenly interrupted as soon as a male human kid walked up to them with a whole cherry pie in his hands.

"Excuse me, you two, did you order the cherry pie?" he asked them politely. He had a slight nervousness in his tone.

The skunks shared sinister looks with each other before the blue one gave his reply. "Where'd you get that?"

"I found it!"

"Then, go find it again!" the white skunk slammed the pie right into the boy's face. Icing, cherry pieces, and pie crust all over his face. The boy wiped off the pie from his face, hearing the two skunks' obnoxious laughter.

" _ **HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!**_ "

"Wow, these two make the Hooligans look like class acts," Sonic rolled his eyes.

"Wait a second," Tails said. "I think I've seen these guys before."

"You have?" Sonic asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah! When I… I… I…" Tails hesitated during his sentence before coming clean. "I went solo during the Phantom Ruby War, I saw a news report that showed these guys saving a town from the Eggman Empire, but I didn't know that these two would enslave the people."

"They must have taken control of the town during the war," Sonic nodded. "They probably want to expand their so-called empire. What a duo of idiots!"

"I'm gonna break them in half!" Knuckles growled. He clapped his fists together and stepped out of the bushes, ready for combat. But before he could fight for what's right, Sonic stopped him in his tracks.

"Easy, Knux, let's take this slow," he said to the Resistance's commander. "You and I will take care of these losers, Tails will help the villagers escape back to their home."

"What about Synergy?" Tails asked.

"We'll worry about him later," Sonic said. "Right now, we're gonna give these guys the beating they deserve."

Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles (Team Sonic as they were called together) jumped out of the bushes and ascended into the air. The two skunks looked up after hearing the whoosh they made, and so did the villagers that worked for them. Team Sonic landed on the ground, striking a fighting pose.

The blue skunk spilled his tea from his mouth and gasped. "Who the-!?"

"Hey, Tweedle-Dumb and Tweedle-Dumber!" Sonic smirked, pointing to himself with his thumb. "I'm Sonic the Hedgehog, maybe you've heard of me? This is my best bud, Miles "Tails" Prower, you've probably heard of him too. And last but not last, this is Knuckles the Echidna, commander of the Resistance. You guys are guilty of theft, extortion, kidnapping, and being grade-A jerks! So you can either come quietly, or we're gonna get _loud!_ "

The white skunk slammed his cup against the table, cracking it into pieces. "Who said you come onto our turf!? Who said you can ruin _our_ fun!?"

The blue skunk got up from his seat and stood next to his brother, pointing at Sonic. "We've heard of you, hero, but you clearly ain't heard of us!"

The skunk brothers started walking towards the three Freedom Fighters.

"You looking to scrap?" said the white skunk.

"Then get ready to crumble!" said the blue skunk.

"Brace yourselves for-!"

Both skunk brothers stroke their very own battle pose, saying their names. " _ **Rough and Tumble!**_ "

Not expecting such a coordinated routine like that one, Sonic's eyes began to tear up. But they weren't tears of sadness, they were tears of laughter. He slapped his knee and started snickering at the two skunks. Rough and Tumble, what kind of names were those? And what the heck was that introduction? Sonic crouched down and pointed at Rough and Tumble, laughing at them.

"Oh, no!" Sonic laughed. "I was not prepared for this!"

"Careful, Sonic, they're highly coordinated." Knuckles slapped his fists together.

Sonic gently placed Knuckles' shoulder, still laughing. "Knuckles… you're the salt of the earth." _**(1)**_

Knuckles rolled his eyes before lunging right for Tumble; Sonic dashed right into Rough. "Forget it!" Knuckles snarled. "Let's just get them!"

"Tails," Sonic called, homing attacking into Rough's chest. He sent him flying into the table full of food. "Get the villagers out of here!"

"Already on it!" Tails flew to the side of the valley, gathering the villagers together. "Come on, guys! Right this way!" Tails guided them down the swamp, heading for the train station that was going to take them to Station Square.

Tumble swatted at Knuckles with his tail, but the echidna grabbed it and flung the skunk over his head. He smacked him against the ground before he punched him across the face. Sonic homed in on Rough, spin attacking him three times before he slammed his fist on the ground. This resulted into a giant wave of blue energy (resembling wind) to shoot across the area, flinging Rough into the table once again.

Brushing his body off from the food crumbs and cake icing, Rough grabbed a piece of cake and chucked it directly at Sonic. All of the cake filling splattered on Sonic's face.

The blue hedgehog wiped it off before growling. "When did this suddenly become a food fight?"

Rough tackled Sonic as if he was a football player and smacked him into the unfinished tower's walls. Sonic kicked the skunk off him and spun attacked him in the chest.

Tumble swung his tail at Knuckles again, hitting him in the face. He then took Knuckles by surprise by firing an uppercut, sending the echidna flying in the air. The blue blur joined his friend as soon as Rough caught Sonic in his ball form and chucked him right into Knuckles.

The two Freedom Fighters fell down on top of a bulldozer.

"Come on down, Freedom Chumps!" Tumble snickered, clapping his fists together.

"What's da matter, Sonic and Knuckles?" Rough cupped his hands over his mouth, calling out to them. "Chicken?"

"I'm gonna rip these idiots in half in a second!" Knuckles snarled.

"Hang on a second," Sonic told him, he got an idea in his head. "I got an idea, follow me!"

Sonic and Knuckles climbed through the door window of the bulldozer, entering the interior. They sat themselves down on the chair, as the former began playing with the controls. He was trying to turn it on.

"You ever use one of these things?" Knuckles asked.

"No," Sonic replied, unaware Knuckles gave him a cold, surprised, petrified stare. "But there's a first for everything, right?" he smiled awkwardly.

Knuckles nodded in pure nervousness.

Sonic turned the keys inside the vehicle and grabbed the levers. The bulldozer's engines roared loudly, as its wheels quickly revved against the dirt. Sonic and Knuckles drove the construction vehicle around the area, they raised the scooper into the air.

"Hey!" Tumble shouted. To which Sonic chuckled. "Get out of there!"

The bulldozer bashed right into the unfinished tower, knocking all of the pieces of limestone and brick onto the ground. They ran over the table of food, smooshing every cake that was waiting to be eaten by the two kings. Speaking of which, both of them screamed at the highest pitches they can reach. They were horrified to see that their kingdom was being demolished.

"Our kingdom!" Rough snarled. "They're destroying everything!"

"Come on, Rough!" Tumble said, motioning to his brother. "I got something that'll take care of these bozos!"

Rough and Tumble ran down the construction site to teach Sonic and Knuckles a lesson.

Just then, Tails, having gotten the villagers to the train station safe and sound, returned to the work site. He flew down on the ground and cleaned his hands off, happy that he got the civilians away from the battle. "Sonic!" he shouted. "The villagers are safe!... Sonic?... hello?"

"Tails, look out!" Knuckles warned, peeking his head out the bulldozer's window.

The two-tailed kit turned around and screamed because a monster-sized scooper was coming right towards him. He leaped out of the way and grabbed onto the door handle on the side, opening it up and stepping inside. He sat himself down next to Sonic.

"Was this your big plan!?" Tails asked.

"Not really!" Sonic replied. "We're improvising!"

Team Sonic continued to destroy more of Rough and Tumble's kingdom.

Angry that their new home is being destroyed, the two skunks came back into the fight with a weapon of their own; a giant wrecking ball attached to a crane. They swung the wrecking ball backward before lunging towards Team Sonic.

Tails noticed the giant black ball of death and rapidly tapped both Sonic and Knuckles on their shoulders. "Move!" he warned.

Team Sonic jumped out of the window. Knuckles grabbed onto Sonic's legs and Sonic grabbed Tails' legs. The fox flew them around the area until they were hit by the wrecking ball. But instead of getting hurt, they grabbed onto the chain and went for a ride around the Mystic Ruins.

In other words; they were spinning in complete three-sixties.

"Get them off of there!" Rough yelled at his brother.

"I'm trying, you idiot!" Tumble hollered back, screwing around with the levers, buttons, and controls.

Team Sonic kept spinning around.

"Guys!" Tails shouted. "I don't think I'm tall enough to ride this ride!"

"Hang on!" Knuckles shouted. "No one let go!"

"Why on Mobius would we let go!?" Sonic replied.

Team Sonic spun in more circles. _**(1s)**_

* * *

" _Excellent work, my Nocturnus Clan,"_ said someone in a deep voice. The voices in G-merl's head were still playing. He was dreaming. _"With this new Gizoids, we will make the Knuckles Clan perish for trying to take over our empire! We will make sure they rue the day they were born!"_

 _Rue the day?_ G-merl said. _Is 'rue' even a word? Wait, I'm a sophisticated robot, of course I would know if it's a word!... but what are these guys talking about?_

" _Arise, Project: Synergy… Meet your general…_ _ **Emerl**_ _."_

 _Wait…_ _ **what!?**_

* * *

 _~G-merl's P.O.V_

When I went to bed, I didn't expect to be hearing stuff like that. Usually, robots don't have dreams, but when they do. There are two reasons, A; something is wrong with them or B… actually, there is no other reason. Something must be wrong with me or something. What was going on? Who were those voices? Why did they sound so familiar? What was Project: Synergy?

My answer came to me when I opened my eyes.

Hoping I would see Cream again, I woke up in a strange dark room. There was little to no light in here aside from a few test tubes with this weird blue liquid inside. It almost looked like that laboratory that Dr. Eggman built that jackal, Infinite, however, these tubes looked a bit more ancient than they did modern.

The place was surrounded by my own kind, Gizoids. One of various colors and forms.

There were bulky Gizoids, skinny ones, multi-colored Gizoids, etc.

There were too many of them to count, each of them were placed in these tubes. Wires were linked to their bodies and schematics of them showed up on the computers. What in the world was this place? I feel like I've seen it all before.

Well, turns out… I have seen it before (Mind blowing, right?)

As if all this couldn't get any weirder, I turned to a mirror next to me and who did I see?... my predecessor, Emerl. I extended my blue eyes and jumped back, thinking he was about to attack me, but then I took a second to realize… Emerl wasn't there… it was me… in other words, I was inside of Emerl's body.

No, really! His exact same body. I had his one fin, his beige, olive colors. Everything!

I walked up to the mirror and raised my hands to my eyes, stunned that I was inside of my past self's body. How could this have happened? I turned to the side of me and looked down at my left foot, it was no longer black and yellow. I flexed my fingers and turned my head, my scanners found it hard to register that I was in someone else's body. Well, I shouldn't say someone else's body, I should say… my old body.

Before I could do anything, I heard the same voices I heard before.

"Ix!" said an old elderly voice, I've heard it before. "I really don't think you should do this!"

"Get out of here, Nestor!" shouted another person in a dark tone. "I've got work to do!"

I walked down the hall of test tubes and turned around the corner. I hid behind one of the containers and spied on two people I've definitely recognized before. They were Imperator Ix: My predecessor's creator, and Nestor the Wise: A close friend of Emerl.

The two of them were standing in front of a body; a Gizoid's body. It was dark and light blue and green as well! Could this be Project: Synergy?

I decided to listen for my answer.

"You've been working on this for several months, now, Ix," Nestor said to Emerl's, I mean my master. Ix turned to him and scoffed.

"Stop calling me that!" he retorted. "It's Imperator Ix! Do I have to keep reminding you that _I am your leader!_ "

"No, you don't, old friend," Nestor shook his head, he let out a gentle smile. "But I think you've been working on this project for far too long. You haven't been sleeping, you haven't gone outside, you haven't been your usual self lately."

"I've always been like myself, old man!" Ix yelled at his old friend. How rude to say that to someone who looks as old as you. "I've almost perfected the ultimate team of Gizoids to fight alongside Project: Emerl in the great war against our rivals. Project: Synergy is almost complete! I need to get this done!"

A-ha! I knew it!

"Please, be reasonable, Ix," Nestor continued pleading with his close friend. I admired that he wasn't giving up on him. "There's no need for war against the Knuckles Clan. We can make peace with them and negotiate peace."

"Did they talk things out when they kidnapped some our men and held them hostage!? Did they talk when they attacked our soldiers!? _Did they talk when they declared war on us!?_ No! I will not allow them to get away with their crimes! I will make them pay for what they've done!" Ix sounded mad and he clearly was. I watched him slam his fist on the desk, scaring the life out of the old echidna across from him.

Just then, a scientist walked by me (He didn't bother to look at me) and informed Ix and some crucial information.

"Imperator Ix," he said. "Project: Synergy is complete. Chaos' biodata has successfully uploaded. We are ready to test him out on your command."

"Finally," Ix replied with a sinister grin. "Open the tube door! Make way!"

The scientist, Ix, and Nestor took a step back. I did too. They opened the door and out stepped Synergy. He looked tired, despite not doing anything. I guess this was because he's been in sleep mode for the past few months. He woke up and glanced into his master's eyes. He took a step back, nervous at what would happen if he saw me.

But as I stepped back, a crack filled the quiet room with noise.

Imperator Ix turned his head.

He saw me.

Great, I've been discovered. What should I do? Should I attack him or get out of there? Here's a better idea, I should just wake the freak up!

Sadly, my idea didn't come true. I was goner.

Or so I thought. You see, Ix gently grabbed my arm and walked me to greet the new Gizoid. The two of us shared eye contact, staring awkwardly at one another. It was weird experience for me, I wasn't sure how he was feeling. He looked a bit confused, I could tell because he cocked his head to the side. I did the same thing, mimicking his movements. He looked up and so did I.

We continued copying each other until Ix interrupted us.

"Arise, Project: Synergy," he said. The bright-colored Gizoid didn't respond. "Meet your new general…"

Déjà vu was going to hit me in the face.

" _ **Emerl**_."

Synergy held out his hand as if he were friends already. He didn't know what to do aside from looking down at his hand. For all I know, he could attack me or attempt to tear me apart. I wiped my head and took his hand, shaking it.

But as soon as we let go.

I woke up.

* * *

" _Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!_ " G-merl shot awake from his sleep mode.

" _Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!_ " Cream woke up in surprise as well. She and Cheese screamed and so did G-merl, even though the two friends didn't know what was going on with the robot.

Everyone stopped screaming and calmed down.

G-merl turned to Cream, realizing that he scared the crud out of her. He facepalmed himself and moaned. "Cream, are you okay? I'm so sorry, did I wake you?"

"Y-yeah," Cream replied, a slight stutter was in her voice. "I-I'm okay. Are you all right, G-merl? Did you have a bad dream."

"For once in my life… I did," G-merl replied, walking over to the bed, leaning beside his best friend.

"What was your dream about?"

The Gizoid didn't know how to answer that question without scaring the little rabbit anymore than he did. If he were to tell her that he was inside Emerl, who she was close friends with back in the day, she would flip the freak out and start bombarding him with questions. Or worse, she would have flashbacks to when Emerl turned evil because Dr. Eggman figured out how to bring back his original programming.

He didn't know what to tell her until he thought of this.

"Before I tell you," he said. "I think we should let Tails know about this. He'll know what to do."

* * *

In the swamp, Synergy and Big were continuing their fishing adventures when suddenly, they heard the sounds of screams. The former stopped his Astonishing Toss and looked to the side, hearing more curses, yells, and screams.

"What's going on over there?" he asked Big. "Is someone in trouble?"

"I'm not sure," Big replied. "But if someone is in trouble, we should help them out."

"You don't mind if we stop fishing for a moment?"

"The safety of someone is more important than fishing."

"That's a pretty hardcore motto."

"What does _'hardcore'_ mean?"

"Never mind," Synergy dropped his fishing rod and flew straight into the forest. Big the Cat followed close behind. "Let's go see what's going on."

* * *

 _ **(2)**_ "Get off my wrecking ball, you muskrats!" Tumble shouted. He continued swinging the crane around in a circle. Team Sonic hung on for dear life. "I said get off! What are you doing!?"

"Well, stop swinging the darn thing!" Rough yelled. "It ain't workin'!"

"I don't see you coming up with any better suggestions!"

Rough quickly thought of an idea and snapped his finger. He whispered the plan to his brother he nodded in concurrence. The skunk brothers stopped swinging the wrecking ball and decided to let the heroes go. Tumble pressed a button that released the ball from the crane while Rough jumped out the window and slid down the side of the yellow tower.

The ball moshed against the ground, the bump it made caused Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles to fly off the side. The three landed on the ground.

Just in time for Rough's plan; run them over with a steam roller.

"I can't wait to make pancakes of these chumps!" Rough laughed sadistically, as he drove the titan-sized construction vehicle all the way to Team Sonic. Tails opened his eyes, waking up from his temporary state of unconsciousness before he panicked. He, Sonic, and Knuckles heard the engines roar and the rocks crack as the steam roller crushed it with its massive strength.

They dodged the vehicle.

"Dang it!" Rough shouted in anger, he tried to back up so he can hit the heroes in the opposite direction, but Knuckles jumped on top of the steam roller, punching his fist through the window. Grabbing the thug's chest fur, he chucked him right over his shoulder and onto the ground. Tails and Sonic spin dashed into him.

Tumble came down from the crane and charged towards Sonic and Tails.

The brothers fist-bumped before they wrapped each other's hands around each other. Combining their spin attacks into one blue and yellow ball, they performed a trick they called the Rolling Combo. Bashing into Tumble, they knocked him into a pile of bricks.

Knuckles flew a few punches at Rough before the skunk grabbed the echidna's fist, lifting him upward. He made Angel Island's guardian eat the dirt. Knuckles shot his face out of the ground and head-butted the blue dictator in the face. Rough grasped his nose and groaned.

"Give it up!" Knuckles demanded, firing another punch at Rough, he missed. "It's over!"

"It ain't over till I say it's over, bub!" Rough grinned, leaping over the echidna. As he flew mid-air, he lifted his tail up. "Stink Bomber!"

Just then, a giant puff of green smoke smacked Knuckles across the face. Filling his nostrils with nothing but a smell of manure and gasoline, Knuckles' eyes turned red and he coughed as if he was sick. He clasped his throat and continued coughing.

"Ha! One of the many perks of being a skunk!" Rough chuckled, cleaning his hands of the dirt he got on them. "Smells good, eh?"

Knuckles only response was a nasty cough.

Before Rough can use his Stink Bomber for a second time, Sonic and Tails' Rolling Combo taught him a thing or to about stinking someone without permission. Rough fell against the bulldozer, as Sonic and Tails untucked from their attack. _**(2s)**_

"Are you okay, Knuckles?" Sonic asked, sniffing the echidna's fur. "Pee-yew! That stinks!"

"Really!? I didn't notice!" Knuckles said, sarcastically.

"You know, tomato juice can help with that," Tails suggested.

Knuckles rolled his eyes at Tails' comment, as he and the team walked up to Rough and Tumble. The two skunks rubbed their heads and moaned in pain. They got up from their butts and went face-to-face with the trio of Freedom Fighters.

"All right, you two," Knuckles said, clapping his fists together. "Are you done?"

"Like I said," Rough coughed. "It ain't over till I say- "

Suddenly, Big the Cat emerged from the bushes and onto the scene. "Is everyone okay?"

Team Sonic, Rough, and Tumble raised their eyebrows, curious.

Synergy followed behind his new friend, standing next to him. "We heard noises, is anyone hurt-!"

He cut off his sentence as soon as he saw Sonic the Hedgehog. "You!?"

Sonic pointed a finger at Synergy. "You!"

"Hey, you!" Big smiled and waved, innocently.

The scanner that Tails had began beeping, beeping as fast as a rapid heartbeat. He reached behind him and took out his Miles Electric. The scanner was going crazy because Synergy was present.

"The scanner?" Tails said. To which he gasped. "Synergy! That's him!"

"More losers to join the fight?" Rough asked. "This day keeps getting weirder and weirder."

Tumble neglected his brother's comment because he was busy eyeballing Synergy as if he'd seen him before. "Wait a minute… why do I feel like I've seen that guy before?" he then gasped, widening his eyes. "The Doc!"

Team Sonic raced toward the Gizoid and Big.

"Hold it right there, Synergy! You're going down!" Sonic said, grinning.

"Not gonna happen, Hedgehog!" Synergy replied, grabbing and lifting Big above his head. He quickly activated his jet-boosters and took to the skies.

"Oh, my gosh!" Tails worried. "He's kidnapping Big!"

"Devil!" Sonic replied. He chased after Synergy because the Gizoid raced into the left direction.

"Sonic, wait!" Tails called, wanting to share a plan he had with Sonic. But it was no use, the fastest thing alive was already gone. He moaned, rolled his eyes, and twirled his tails. "I'll go back and get the tornado, Knuckles, chase after Sonic! And make sure he's careful!"

"I will, Tails!" Knuckles nodded before jumping upward, gliding after his blue rival.

As Tails raced back to get the Tornado, Rough charged at the fox. Before he can attack him, Tumble grabbed his brother's tail and pulled him back.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Tumble said. "Don't!"

"Why not!?" Rough retorted. "They just wrecked our beautiful paradise!"

"Never mind that, we have to get back to the Doc," Tumble shook his head, walking away from the damage that's been done to their castle.

"What do we need to visit the Doc for?" Rough inquired, shrugging his shoulders.

Tumble stopped, turning over his shoulder. "Because I've seen that robot before… and so has he."

 _ **END OF CHAPTER 6**_

* * *

 _Tumble knows Synergy? How is that possible? And what's this, Synergy kidnapping Big the Cat!? Holy moly, how is Team Sonic going to get him back? G-merl and Cream have decided to go see Tails in the next chapter, hoping to discuss the events of the former's dream. But little do they know, someone is waiting for them in Emerald Town. Watch as a new character is revealed in "Chapter 7: Resistance Reunited."_

* * *

 ** _POST-A/N:_**

 _Rough and Tumble are two of my favorite IDW characters (Whisper is my top favorite) so writing them was a lot of fun. IDW Sonic the Hedgehog Issue #3 came in handy when it came to this issue. Some dialogue was recycle from there and the fight scene was inspired from that issue, but everything else came from my mind._

 _G-merl's dream sequence was written in first person P.O.V because it was rather difficult to write it into third person P.O.V. That, and I thought having a third person P.O.V would be boring._

 _Again, special thanks to my co-writer/best friend on this website; Infinite's Ruby for her help._

 _Be sure to vote on who you think the caller is. Leave a fav, follow, and review if you're interested in seeing more. I'm The Sensational SpiderDom321 signing off!_

 _~SD321 (SpiderDom321)_


	7. Resistance Reunited

_**A/N:** I know this chapter was supposed to be called "Catch Me If You Can" which would focus on Team Sonic chasing Synergy and Big, but this chapter just randomly popped into my head so I needed to get it down. Plus, I haven't planned out "Catch Me If You Can" yet. Just to give you all a heads up. That's all._

 _As usual, thanks to TGN, Alexandria Prime, Infinite's Ruby, and SharpDragonKlaw for their reviews and support of this story. Also, another heads up, but I am going to take down the poll regarding the mysterious caller very soon. It doesn't have a lot of people voting on it and this chapter gives the answer away. You'll see._

 ** _Suggested Music:_**

 ** _(1) Sir Percival: The Knight of the Grail - Sonic and the Black Knight OST_**

 ** _(2) Holaska Hub World (Night) - Sonic Unleashed OST_**

 ** _(3) Blue Ridge Zone - Sonic Chronicles Remastered OSt (By Hatokman)_**

 ** _(4) King Kaliente - Super Mario Galaxy OST_**

 _Without further ado, enjoy the show!_

* * *

 **Resistance Reunited**

Waiting for Tails to answer his front door turned interminable for Cream, Cheese, and G-merl. They were waiting outside for their close friend to answer the door, hoping to tell him about the dream he had last night of the two echidnas making a mysterious Gizoid that shook G-merl's hand. The rabbit and her Chao didn't know this of course, but they wanted to know what was going on with their closest friend. Both of them have known the Gizoid ever since Tails stripped him of his evil programming a few years ago. Since then, he's been like an older brother to them.

They recalled times where he would take care of them, make them feel better about themselves if they ever felt down.

But never before have they ever encountered something like this.

Something was wrong with G-merl; he looked distressed.

But what was going on?

All the questions rambled through Cream's head, as G-merl knocked on Tails' door one last time.

No one answered.

The Gizoid rolled his eyes and made a hissing noise, annoyed that Tails was taking so long to answer his door.

 _Come on, Tails, where are you?_ He said in his mind. _Answer you door!_

"G-merl," Cream finally spoke. "Can I ask you something?"

"What's up, Kiddo?" G-merl inquired.

Cream looked down at the ground, a frown was on her face. She turned to her brother-like friend and gave him her response. "What was… um… I'm sorry, what was… your- "

"It's okay, Cream," G-merl placed a hand on his best friend's shoulder. "You can ask me."

Cream sighed before he asked him her question. "What was your dream about last night?"

G-merl rubbed the back of his head, trying to think of how he would word his answer. If he just flat out told her, _'Hi, Cream, I dreamt I was Emerl last night and I heard my evil creators talking about an evil plot,'_ she would either freak out or she would be confused. Either way, she would be surprised to hear the name of Emerl, someone who she was close with in the past. G-merl tapped his yellow fin plates and folded his arms, checking out his yellow arm and knee guards.

He finally came clean with his answer. "First off, let me ask you… do you remember a group of mean people called the Nocturnus Clan?"

Cream raised her eyebrow before she remembered what G-merl was talking about. "Oh, yeah! I remember them! They were mean, but I remember being friends with one of them. Her name was Shade, she was nice. Why do you ask?"

G-merl gave a nervous sound again. Time to give the response. "Well, this is going to sound crazy, but I dreamt of my past self, Emerl, last night. I was talking with the Nocturnus Clan."

Cream gasped when she heard that response. Never did she think she would hear about G-merl's predecessor again. Cheese gasped as well and turned to his owner, Cream was in shock when G-merl said Emerl's name, something the black and yellow Gizoid was afraid of.

To his surprise, Cream continued talking to him when he expected her to be traumatized. "The Nocturnus Clan are back?"

"No, no, Kiddo," G-merl shook his head. He leaned downward and touched Cream's shoulder. "Don't worry, you helped Sonic and his friends take them down for good, so there's no way they're coming back anytime soon. My dream had me, as Emerl, walking down a laboratory. I was watching my creator, Ix, and his close friend, Nestor, build some kind of robot. A robot that looked just like me, I mean, Emerl."

"Yes, that name, Ix, sounds familiar to me. He was mean, but Sonic was able to stop him," Cream said. "But if you're okay with me asking, do you remember anything about Emerl or that robot at all in your dream?"

G-merl hesitated.

He didn't want to scare Cream if he'd told her about Project: Synergy, but eying the concerned expression on her innocent six-year-old face, G-merl knew he couldn't deny her request.

At the same time, he didn't want to give her any information which could potentially harm his best friend. How he hated keeping secrets like that. "The robot's name was Project: Synergy," he said. "I overheard a couple of sentences from my creator regarding that robot, mentioning to Nestor that he was near completion. But don't worry, Cream, if he ever gets the nerve to come after you… I will never let him hurt you. That's a promise. I apologize if what I told you scared you."

"Don't apologize, G-merl," Cream said, pulling the robot into a comforting hug. "I know it sounds scary, but the fact that you had a bad dream makes me worry about you. You promised me that you will never let those people hurt me, so I promise the same to you. G-merl, you've been protecting me for so long, it's time Cheese and I return the favor!"

"Chao, chao!" Cheese smiled.

"Ha-ha, thanks, guys," G-merl hugged the two kids. "What would I do without you two?"

Suddenly, the sound and smell of fire burning came from behind the three friends. They all turned their heads and gasped (Well, G-merl couldn't gasp because he was a robot, he has no lungs.) at what they were seeing. Cream and Cheese cuddled beside each other, G-merl stepped in front of them and clapped his right fist against his left palm.

Whatever was coming for them was going to meet his wrath.

The wave of fire showed its true identity when it cleared up.

It was Blaze the Cat, using the seven Sol Emeralds to transport from her dimension to Sonic's dimension.

She sealed the magic gems away before she looked around her environment, noticing that she scared the snot out of some of the locals. Some of them ran away in fear while some chose to stay behind and record Blaze's entrance with their video cameras.

The lavender cat brushed off her purple dress before adjusting her white gloves. Looking to her right, she saw G-merl, Cream, and Cheese. The rabbit and the Chao were excited to see her. G-merl had n idea what was going on.

"Miss Blaze!" Cream rushed to the princess and gave her a big hug. Blaze kneeled down and returned the hug. Cheese rested on top of Blaze's head, cuddling herself against her hair.

"Cream, hello," Blaze smiled, hugging her back. She hugged Cheese as well. "It's nice to see you two again. How have you been?" before the rabbit answered, the cat quickly glanced over Cream's shoulder and saw G-merl.

She gasped. _**(1)**_

"You!" Blaze shouted, she pushed Cream and Cheese behind her before igniting her hands up with flames. She charged at G-merl, thinking he was an Eggman robot hired to attack her. "Get away from my friends!"

"Whoa, hang on a second!" G-merl pleaded, jumping out of the way. Blaze shot his chest with a ring of fire. G-merl lunged backward and fell into someone's fence. Moaning in pain, he got up and dodged another attack. "Wait, this isn't what it looks like! I'm friends with her!"

Blaze kicked the Gizoid across his face. "You're a robot made by Dr. Eggman! You were sent to attack her! How dare you disturb her peace!?"

The lavender cat fired a punch at the robot, but he caught it to her surprise.

He snarled. "Buddy, what I _want_ is to live in peace, but you had to come here and cause a fuss. So, now, _I'll make you rest in peace!_ "

"G-merl? Miss Blaze?" Cream asked. "If you would just take a moment- "

G-merl head-butted Blaze and shot her with a blast of laser energy. Blaze counterattacked by spinning around, fire shot out of her arms, hitting G-merl across his face multiple times.

"Or… not," Cream said nervously.

Blaze shot a wave of fire at the Gizoid, but he teleported behind her and fired a kick. Using her agile reflexes, Blaze jumped over the kick and landed a quick punch against G-merl's face. She then grabbed the robot's fin and flipped him over her shoulder, he skidded across the ground until he hit someone's bird bath.

He picked up the object and threw it at her, only to watch Blaze pierce through it with her powers.

Before she could hit him again, G-merl teleported above her and whacked her with a homing attack.

Blaze fired back with an Axel Tornado; which was a circle of fire.

G-merl blocked the attack with his force field prior to deciding to mess with the cat. "Is fire all you got?" he taunted. "I bring more heat than that!"

Blaze attacked him with a Fire Claw; her equal to Sonic's homing attack. "You will need more than big weapons and big words to stop me!" she landed behind him and pulled her fire fist back, ready to punch.

G-merl did the same thing and the two of them were caught in a fist fight. Punch. Punch. Punch! Nothing but fists were flying.

"Yeah, well, you!... _Argh!_ " G-merl grunted, as he kept fighting. "How does Sonic keep up all this mid-battle banter!?"

It was at that moment where Blaze finally realized… she made a mistake. "Sonic?" she asked. She jumped back and put out the flames on her hands. "As in Sonic the Hedgehog? Hero of Mobius?"

"No, I meant Super Mario," G-merl said, sarcastically. "Of course I meant Sonic the Hedgehog! And how do you know about him!?" _**(1s)**_

" _ **EXCUSE ME, PLEASE!**_ " Cream shouted, running in front of Blaze, protecting G-merl from anymore harm. "Miss Blaze, please don't hurt my friend. G-merl used to be an Eggman robot before, but that was before Mr. Tails reprogrammed him. He was only trying to protect me."

Blaze felt guilty after hearing that. How could she have misjudged someone based on their appearance? She bowed her head in shame and apologized. "I can only offer you sincere apologies, G-merl," she replied. "I mistakenly assumed you were attacking Cream, so I attacked you without properly assessing the situation."

"Eh, it's all right," G-merl shrugged it off. "I'm used to be misjudged by others."

Blaze felt even more guilty after hearing that.

"What are you doing here, Miss Blaze?" Cream smiled.

"Oh, right," Blaze said, she brushed her sleeves off. She held all seven Sol Emeralds around her. "I felt the will of the Sol Emeralds. I've come to prevent a terrible event on your world. The Sol Emeralds warned me of a new evil that's come to destroy this dimension."

"Really?" G-merl replied, rubbing his head. "What is this new evil?"

"The Sol Emeralds didn't show me much, but they did show me the awakening of a robot that looked just like G-merl."

Cream and Cheese both gasped.

"Project: Synergy?" Cream asked.

"You know about this?" Blaze inquired.

"I had a dream about this last night," G-merl said. "I was inside my old body and I watched my creators from 4,000 years ago make this robot. I don't know what happened after that. I was hoping Tails could help me, but he's not answering his door."

Blaze raised an eyebrow. What could be keeping Tails from answering his own door? He would usually be awake at this time. She walked to the door and gave it a small knock. On accident, the door cracked open, a creaking noise filled the silence of the interior. G-merl, Cream, Cheese, and Blaze entered the house.

Everything looked intact, nothing was damaged.

They entered the kitchen to see if Tails was cooking anything, but not even the kitchen was populated with any folks. Cream and Cheese checked the living room once again while Blaze and G-merl investigated the kitchen.

No one was in sight.

Blaze suddenly found a piece of paper sitting on the kitchen counter. She picked it up and read it, it was a letter from Tails.

 _To Whom It May Concern,_

 _If you're by any chance looking for me and/or Sonic the Hedgehog. I hate to say it but you're out of luck because we're not home. Sonic and I are currently in the Mystic Ruins with the Commander of the Resistance; Knuckles the Echidna, looking for a new evil that was discovered in the Sylvania Castle Zone. I'm not sure when we'll be home, but when we get back, we'll be sure to get back to you soon._

 _Although you could have called us on the phone instead of reading this letter, but hey, I wanted to write this just to be considerate. That, and my house phone is dead._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Miles "Tails" Prower._

"They're not home," said Blaze, putting down the letter. "They're in a place called the Mystic Ruins. Where is that?"

"I know where that is," G-merl said. "Cream, come here!"

Cream and Cheese walked up to their friend.

"We're going to the Mystic Ruins to find Sonic, Tails and Knuckles, are you cool with going with us or do you want to go back home to your Mom?" G-merl asked. "It's your call."

Cream and Cheese looked at each other before they turned around, whispering a conversation between each other. The two were discussing whether it would be best to help G-merl or to go back home.

Unsurprisingly, their decision was simple.

"We're here to help, G-merl!" Cream saluted, Cheese smiled.

"Excellent!" Blaze and G-merl said at the same time.

"Come on, everyone," G-merl said. "Let's get going. I have a strong feeling Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles don't know what they're up against."

* * *

Rough and Tumble were inside the elevator of their HQ, the Final Egg; an old location in the Mystic Ruins that Dr. Eggman used during the Perfect Chaos incident. He and Sonic the Hedgehog went to battle here when the former unleashed a new Super Badnik called the Egg Viper. Thankfully, Sonic was able to defeat Dr. Eggman and continue to find the Chaos Emeralds in order to stop Chaos.

Not much is known as to how or why Rough and Tumble resided here, but the both of them know that this wasn't their first choice of a residence, it was their boss's idea; the Doc. Who is the Doc?

They knew the answer to that question.

The two of them were waiting to see their boss, Tumble couldn't wait to tell him about Synergy whereas Rough was still confused. Why was his brother so eager to tell the Doc what he saw and how did he remember seeing that robot before?

"I still don't get it, bro," Rough said. "That robot we saw, you said you've seen it before, yes?"

"Mm-mm," Tumble nodded.

"How do you know that thing?" Rough inquired.

"I'll tell ya once we see the Doc," Tumble replied. "Besides, _he's_ the one who's seen it first."

The elevator reached the bottom floor and opened up, Rough and Tumble stepped outside and entered a laboratory filled with a bunch of Dr. Eggman's old machines. Ranging from old Metal Sonics, to battle-damaged Badniks, to old Mecha Sonic ideas, and all sorts of rejected robot designs. They walked into the dark room, the only sources of light were the rusty old chandeliers on top. They were all moldy and covered in dust.

In the lab, a scientist was typing on his computer. This was the Doc that Rough and Tumble have been talking about.

He was mumbling. "Let's see, if I put this part here… no, that's not good enough. How about this?... no, that's also not good enough. How did I make this again?"

Rough and Tumble exchanged a nervous glance before they interrupted the Doc's work.

"Hey, Doc," Tumble said. "I got something to tell you."

The Doc turned around and showed himself to his two minions.

The Doc was an anthropomorphic platypus with grey fur that colored most of his body. His beak was black-colored and narrow with his nostrils on the front, and he possessed red eyes, black eyelids, and a thick tail. He also had three thick hair turfs on his head that were combed over the right side of his head. His front hair turf also possessed a black highlight. For attire, he wore a purple and red tuxedo with golden cuffs, orange pince-nez glasses, and webbed black gloves with the left one having a orange topaz with a red spiral. It was attached on the top and his gloves had golden fingertips. He also wore black boots with golden buckles, red soles, medium high-heels, and upward-turned pointy shoes.

His name… was Doctor Starline.

"I'm in the middle of something, Rough and Tumble!" the platypus snarled. "What do you want!?"

"Tumble and I were in the middle of building our own private castle in the Mystic Ruins," Rough explained. "When suddenly, Sanic, Tells, and Noodles showed up and tore it all down!"

"What a surprise," Dr. Starline said, sarcastically. "It's what happens when you use limestone and brick. _That_ , and you kept putting up signs that gave away your location!"

"It's not our fault the sign looked cool," Rough replied. To which Tumble punched him in the arm.

"After Sonic and his band of idiots ruined our kingdom, a fat purple cat showed up in the distance," Tumble said. "With him was a robot you've seen before. One that I had to come here and tell you about."

"For the last time, Tumble," Dr. Starline facepalmed. "Those singing puppets you see on TV do not count as robots."

"No, it's not those!" Tumble shook his head, waving his hands. "I saw this robot with the fat cat. I forgot what he was called, but he was light blue, dark blue, and green-colored! I think his name was… it was… gosh, what was his name!?"

"You're wasting my time," Dr. Starline said.

"Wait, wait, hang on! I know his name!" Tumble tapped his head, trying to get himself to think. "His name was… Rough, what was his name again?"

"I think his name was… Energy or something?" Rough said, rubbing his head and flexing his tail. "Singerly… no! Synergy?"

Dr. Starline gasped when he heard Rough's last guess. "Wait! Synergy!?... as in… Project: Synergy?"

Rough and Tumble eyeballed one another.

"Yeah, that's him!" Tumble pointed.

"This is incredible, how can this be!?" Dr. Starline placed his hands on his head, he adjusted his glasses and stroked his chin. "Project: Synergy is alive! You saw him in here in the Mystic Ruins!?"

"Yep!" Tumble nodded, smiling.

"Hold on a second," Rough said. "How do the two of you know about this guy?" _**(2)**_

Dr. Starline turned around and typed on his computer, pulling up a digital image of a blueprint of two Gizoids. Emerl was on the left and Synergy was on the right. "Project: Synergy was one of two projects created 4,000 years ago by the Nocturnus Clan: An ancient group of echidnas that wanted nothing more than to rule their land. Unfortunately, their efforts were thwarted by their rivals: Chief Pachacamac and the Knuckles Clan."

The platypus adjusted his jacket and changed the picture to show the skunks an image of both clans. On the right was Imperator Ix and the Nocturnus Clan. Beside him was Procurator Shade and in front of her were both Emerl and Synergy. The two of them were standing in front of an army of echidnas and Gizoids.

On the left was Chief Pachacamac. He was standing beside his daughter, Tikal, and his war-hungry echidnas. Rough and Tumble shared another glance with one another, analyzing the differences between the two civilizations.

They could tell which one was technologically and which one wasn't.

"Because of their abundance of advanced technology, Nocturne's leader, Imperator Ix ordered his top scientists and engineers to construct an army of robots called Gizoids; advanced war machines designed to copy the move sets of their opponents. Project: Emerl was the Gizoid armada's top general, Project: Synergy was his second in command. The two of them fought in the war against the Knuckles Clan, overpowering them because of the way they were programmed. Emerl was the most powerful, but Synergy proved himself as a force to be reckoned with."

Rough and Tumble nodded their heads.

Dr. Starline showed them a few pictures of Emerl and Synergy fighting the Knuckles Clan. Shade was in the background, fighting an army of Knuckles soldiers while Ix was trapped in a sword fight with Pachacamac.

Starline changed the picture to show the skunks a picture of the aftermath of the war. Shade, Synergy, and Emerl were holding up their fists, standing beside Imperator Ix, who held up his weapon. All of them achieved victory while some echidnas of the Knuckles Clan, including Pachacamac, fled.

"The Knuckles Clan retreated to their home town, hoping to use the Master Emerald's power to kill their enemies," Dr. Starline continued. "But little did they know, they would anger the God of Destruction: Chaos, who executed them with the power of the Chaos Emeralds. Because of this, the Nocturnus Clan easily ruled the entirety of the Mystic Ruins."

Rough began to fall asleep because of all this nonsense, but Tumble punched him in the arm, waking him up.

"However," said Dr. Starline. "Just when the clan settled into their new home, a black hole in the sky sucked the entire city of Nocturne into another dimension, leaving Project: Emerl to crash land into the surface. Project: Synergy was presumed dead at the time. Emerl would later become experimented on by my idol's grandfather, Dr. Gerald Robotnik until he was later found by Dr. Eggman. Sadly, before Eggman could put him to good use, Sonic the Hedgehog and his band of Freedom Fighters destroyed him. Since then, I thought the Gizoids were all gone… until today,"

"Huh?" Rough and Tumble asked.

"You two said that you saw Synergy today. No one has seen him in 4,000 years! Having him here on the surface is groundbreaking! Imagine what I could do if I had him in possession. Imagine what could happen if… Dr. Eggman had him in his possession." Dr. Starline snapped his fingers, he had an idea.

Rough put his hand against his hip. Tumble folded his arms.

"Rough, Tumble, get the car ready," Dr. Starline said. "We're taking a road trip to Metropolis!" _**(2s)**_

* * *

 _ **(3)**_ Blue Ridge Zone: A chilly alpine region that featured fir trees, distinctive azure grasses, and snowfall if one were to go further north. Giant freshwater alligators (also called Dragodons) were encountered here, as well as giant hawks that would fly around their nests, protecting their eggs from the Dragodons.

The cold wind blew through the air, making Amy Rose regret not brining a coat to this region. Mighty the Armadillo and Ray the Flying-Squirrel, on the other hand, didn't mind the cold. Although, Ray did have to tighten his scarf a little bit.

The three of them raced through the snow and admired the hawks flying through the sky. The ferocious birds would stare at them, praying that the three heroes wouldn't get the idea to steal their eggs. Thankfully for them, the heroes had no ambition to do such thing.

Amy, Mighty, and Ray were looking for Team Chaotix.

Before they left this morning, Knuckles told them where he stationed the Resistance before he went out with Sonic and Tails. Silver was in Soleanna and the three detectives were here. Since Mighty and Ray knew the Chaotix well, Amy decided to pick them up first.

They traversed through the snow. Ray was riding a snowboard while Mighty and Amy ran through the white wonderland, making their way down south. Ray performed a front flip and side flip through the air before striking a landing. He almost fell off his board.

"Careful, Ray, don't hurt yourself," said Mighty.

"D-don't worry, Mighty!" Ray smiled and waved. "Whoa! I'll be c-careful!"

Ray performed another trick and landed safely.

"I appreciate you calling us back into the action, Ms. Rose," Mighty smiled.

"Ms. Rose?" Amy asked, shocked. To which she chuckled. "You're a real gentleman, Mighty. Sonic could learn a thing or two from you. Ha-ha! But in all seriousness, it's not a problem. I'm glad you guys came back."

"Same here," Mighty replied. "So, get this straight. A guy named Silver is in Soleanna and Team Chaotix are here, correct?"

"Yep! You guessed it!" Amy winked.

"Sweet! I can't wait to see them again. I haven't spoken to them since the old days, back when we were fighting a giant Metal Sonic on an isolated island. I'll never forget the time we had to fish each other out of some claw machine. That was creepy!"

"Sounds like you guys had some crazy adventures. What happened since then?" Amy raised an eyebrow.

"I got sick of the violence that occurred on that island," Mighty said with a frown. "It felt like everyday was an endless fight with Eggman. So, I decided to leave the Chaotix and become a pacifist. They understood my reasoning and I'm glad they're still a unit to this day… ha, now that I say all of this out loud. I'm worried they're going to hate me as soon as they see me again."

"They're not going to hate you," Amy smiled, hoping to reassure Mighty. "I'm sure they would be happy to see you again. Besides, I remember Charmy telling me he and the Chaotix miss you. It's going to be okay."

Mighty's frown turned into a smile, happy to know that someone is there to help him out. "Thanks, Ms. Rose, that helps me a lot."

"Please… call me Amy,"

"Thank you, Ms. Rose-I mean… Amy." _**(3s)**_

"H-h-h-hey, g-guys!" Ray pointed, stopping himself from continuing down the snowy hill. "L-l-l-l- "

"What's wrong, Ray?" Amy asked.

"Look over, there!" Ray pointed in the far distance. _**(4)**_

In the southeast, Espio, Vector, and Charmy were fighting a tumble-down shanty town populated with the people that escaped from Station Square after Perfect Chaos' attack. They were in the middle of a fight against Antons: Ant-like Badniks, and Hoverbys: Badniks that resembled butterflies.

Espio and Vector kept the enemies at bay with some of the more combat trained residents while Charmy got some of the villagers who lacked combat experience to a safe location. The former threw a few daggers into the Hoverbys yellow wings while the latter used the environment to attack the Antons.

He picked up a water barrels and chucked them into the drones, the water fried their systems.

Espio took down the ant-like robots with a single kick, making sure they stay down.

"Come on, people!" Charmy smiled, guiding the villagers out of the way. "Nothing to see here, just team Chaotix being awesome! Right this way, people!"

Some of the combat soldiers fired their Wispons at the Badniks. A Mobian wolf used his lightning whip to slash Hoverbys in half while a human female sucked a dozen Antons into a black hole with a Void Wispon. Espio assisted the two of them. Vector fought alongside more soldiers.

"They're gonna need some help down there," Mighty said.

"W-w-w-what c-can we d-d-do?" Ray asked.

"Easy," Amy whipped her Piko Piko Hammer out of Hammerspace, twirling it around until she held it in her hands. "We fight."

"M-M-M-Mighty, are you going t-t-t-to b-be okay with that?" Ray asked his best friend.

"I fight when it's necessary," Mighty nodded. "Let's take them down, Amy,"

The team raced down the hill and ran into the village, catching the armada of Badniks by surprise.

Espio and Vector, not paying attention to Mighty and Ray's entrance noticed Amy helping the soldiers out of danger.

"On your left, Espio!" Vector said, biting an Anton's arm off with his mouth.

"Left, right! They have us surrounded!" Espio replied, throwing more daggers at Hoverbys. He then noticed Amy helping him out. "Amy, thanks for the help! We appreciate it!"

"No problem, Espio!" Amy said, fighting Badniks by slamming them with her hammer. "If we want to take them down, we're going to need to get the _swing_ of things… oh my god, did I just pun?"

"Roger that," Espio replied.

"That pun was corny!" Vector called.

Espio quickly grabbed a rope from a box full of supplies for the villagers. He wrapped them around his kunai and ran into the middle of the arena. Before he could initiate his plan, he saw Mighty and Ray fight off an army of Hoverbys.

"No way… is that?" he said.

"Espio, focus!" Vector shouted, realizing that Mighty and Ray have entered the brawl. "Wait! Mighty, is that you!?"

Mighty slammed the ground, creating a shock wave. "Hey, guys! Long time no see!"

"Mighty, good to see you!" Charmy smiled. He was about to hug the armadillo until Espio stopped him.

"Save the reunion for later," he said. "Right now… Amy, Vector, grab on!"

Vector and Amy grabbed onto the rope that was attached to the kunai. Espio wrapped his fingers around it as well. Everyone then motioned to Charmy, giving him the signal for the plan. Charmy grabbed the rope and started flying around the hub of the town in a complete circle. Espio, Amy, anc Vector spun around as Charmy flew.

Mighty and Ray stopped fighting for a quick second, knowing what was about to happen.

Amy, Espio, and Vector spun around, creating a tornado of wind because of how fast they were moving. The tornado ended up stunning and sucking up the Badniks, making them lose their balance. Mighty and Ray smiled and chuckled at the sight of their teamwork. The tornado eventually ended as soon as Charmy Thunder Shooted everyone across the town.

Smash. Smash. Boom. Bash! All the enemies were soon defeated. _**(4s)**_

The townsfolk thanked the Resistance for coming to help them out, cheering and chanting their names. All of them clapped with the uttermost appreciation. Vector smiled and waved whereas Charmy blew imaginary kisses to the audience. Espio rolled his eyes when he saw that. Amy chuckled and Mighty and Ray gave them a thumbs up.

"Thank you, everyone! Thank you, thank you, you're all too kind!" Vector smiled. Everyone soon went back to what they were doing. "Wow, a second ago, they were all cheering for us and now they act like they don't care. What a bunch of- "

He paused as soon as he saw Mighty's smile. "Mighty! My boy!"

"Hey, Vec," Mighty was about to fist-bump the crocodile before Charmy dived in and tackled him with a huge hug.

"Mighty! Man, oh man! It's so good to see you again!" Charmy exclaimed. "Did you bring us any presents?"

"It's good to see you again, old friend," Espio patted his old friend on the shoulder, smiling. "I trust your travels have been fortunate."

"Nice to see ya again, buddy boy!" Vector said, beaming. "I'll be honest, we were getting worried when we haven't heard from you in a while. We haven't seen you since we kicked Metal's butt cheeks on Isolated Island."

"First off, Vector," Mighty chuckled. "I don't think robots have butt cheeks. They probably do, but I don't want to have that mental image stuck on my head. Second, I'm sorry I haven't contacted you in a long time. My journey took me to many places, and once I heard Dr. Eggman came back after Sonic stopped him during the Phantom Ruby War, I knew I had to come back and help."

"Well, we're glad you're back, buddy! We're gonna have to catch up sometime!" Vector punched Mighty in his arm. He then noticed that a shy yellow squirrel was standing beside the armadillo. "And who's this little guy?"

Ray gasped.

"Hi, there!" Charmy waved. "What's your name?"

Ray didn't know how to respond to that question. He never met these people before, he only heard about them through the stories Mighty told him about his old adventures with them. "M-m-m-my-my uh… I-I-I-I-I… M-m-m-mm…m-m-mm- "

"Um, did I say something bad?" Charmy rubbed his helmet.

"I'm not sure," Vector replied.

Espio shrugged his shoulders.

Ray scratched his head, tapped his blue boots against the floor, and messed with his blue scarf. Sweat poured down his forehead and his hands became moist. How was he going to respond around these new people without looking like a fool?

Luckily, Mighty was there to help him out. "This is my little brother, Ray the Flying-Squirrel," he said, putting an arm around Ray's shoulder. "I met him a while back on Eggman Island. After him and I escaped from Eggman's clutches, the two of us became very close friends. He's been on my journeys ever since."

"Greetings, Ray," Espio held his hand out, offering a handshake. "My name is Espio,"

"I'm Vector: Leader of Team Chaotix Detective Agency!" the croc smiled, giving a salute.

"And I'm Charmy Bee: The Best member of Team Chaotix, the cool guy, the junior detective, the only person who can eat whole burger under twenty-five seconds, the best Sonic character in the whole canon, and- "

"The most annoying member our team," Vector whispered to Ray.

" _Hey!_ Oh, yeah, well, Vector's the smelliest member of our team!"

"It's not my fault! Our water bill keeps increasing so I can't take enough baths!"

"Now you know what I had to go through with these guys," Mighty whispered to Ray. Ray chuckled to that.

"So, what brings you out here, Mighty?" Espio asked. "You said you came back after hearing Dr. Eggman has returned?"

"Yes, well, actually… Ray and I came back to help Sonic out with a new problem," said Mighty.

"What do you mean?" Espio inquired.

Amy stepped up and briefly explained the situation. "Yesterday, Sonic found an ancient Gizoid named Synergy inside of a hidden temple. Sonic told us that the Nocturnus Clan created him. You know, that old group of echidnas that captured Knuckles a while back? Synergy said something about going after them and conquering the world. Sonic tried to stop him, but he got hurt in the process."

"Another robot out on the loose," said Charmy, moaning. "How original."

"You said he was looking for the Nocturnus Clan?" Espio asked. "Last time I checked, you defeated them years ago. Is he unaware that they're gone?"

"Pretty much," said Amy. "Knuckles sent me here to reunite the Resistance while he, Tails, and Sonic locate Synergy in the Mystic Ruins."

"How do you think that's going?" Vector raised an eyebrow.

"We're don't know," Mighty replied, shaking his head.

Suddenly, a ringtone came from the pocket in Amy's skirt; her Miles Electric was ringing. She pulled it out and answered whoever was calling. A live video of Sonic riding on the wing of the Tornado was on the screen.

"Hey, Sonic, what's up?" Amy asked.

" _Hey, Amy, I got something to tell ya,"_ Sonic replied. _"We found Synergy! And he kidnapped Big!"_

"Big!? Why him!?"

" _I don't know! Maybe Synergy's looking for Froggy too!"_

"Okay, where are you guys heading?"

" _I'm not sure! We're chasing him across the ocean, so we have no idea where he's going!? He could be going to Holaska for all I know! I'll send you our coordinates! Gotta go, Amy! Synergy looks like he's about to dunk Big in the water! Come back here, you Emerl clone!"_

Amy hung up the call and was quickly sent Team Sonic's location. She nodded to the Resistance and informed them on what was going on. "Come on, guys! We got a Gizoid to catch!"

As the team raced off, following Sonic's location. A mysterious spy by the name of Rouge the Bat was spying on them, she was hiding on the roof of a small building. She spoke to someone on the other side of her wrist communicator.

"This is Agent Rouge," she said. "I think I found something interesting."

 _ **END OF CHAPTER 7**_

* * *

 _Wow, three new characters were shown in here. Blaze the Cat, Doctor Starline, and Rouge the Bat. Can things get even crazier. Well, yes, things will get more crazy once Chapter 8 comes along (Sheesh, I can't believe this story's going to be up to eight chapters already.) Stay tuned for the epic chase with Synergy and Team Sonic in "Chapter 8: Catch Me If You Can."_

* * *

 ** _POST-A/N:_**

 _I know what you're thinking, "SD, what is Hammerspace?" Well, you know those moments in Sonic 06 where characters would pull Chaos Emeralds out of their butts. Well, not only is that called "video game logic" but it's also called Hammerspace: A term used to refer to an invisible space where fictional characters can pull out objects larger than the physical space they are storied in typical hammers. In other words, they pull large objects out of nowhere._

 _Originally, Rouge was supposed to have more dialogue in this chapter, but this one is already as long as it is, I didn't want to drag it out._

 _Since Ray has never met Team Chaotix in the actual SEGA Sonic video games, I decided to make this their first meeting. I know Ray knows them in the Archie Comics, but he has never met them in the actual games._

 _Mario and the Muppets made small references in here. ;)_

 _I made a poll on here regarding Blaze's appearance and here are the results._

 _Yes, she's in the IDW Series so she should be in here = 100% voters._

 _Nah, she's overrated = 0% voters._

 _Special thanks to Infinite's Ruby for helping me again._

 _Don't forget to leave a fav/follow/review. I'm the Sensational SpiderDom321 and I'll see you all next time!_

 _~SD321 (SpiderDom321)_


	8. Sonic vs Synergy

_**A/N:** Special shoutout to TGN, Infinite's Ruby, SharpDragonKlaw, Alexandria Prime, and Ways for reviewing the story and taking the time to share their thoughts and constructive criticisms. It really does help me a lot. We have had a cooldown chapter in the last one. G-merl and Cream met up with Blaze the Cat whereas the Resistance have reunited and are heading to another location. Meanwhile, Team Sonic is hot on the trail for Synergy and Rouge the Bat is involving herself in the fight. And last but not least, Dr. Starline has entered the game. Tangle and Whisper will show up soon._

 _So much went down in the last chapter and now we enter the last one. Again, thank you to those who continue to support this story, as we have made it to over **40 reviews!** thank you guys so much! Oh before we begin, there is a poll regarding Synergy and Big's friendship. I took down the mysterious caller one because... well, I think the story gives the answer away. Only two people who have PM'd me have guessed it right so far. Please don't spoil it for those who wish to be surprised._

 _Disclaimer: Sonic the Hedgehog and other properties belong to SEGA (IDW Characters belong to SEGA and IDW Comics)_

 ** _Suggested Music:_**

 ** _(1) Sonic Speed Riders - Sonic Riders OST_**

 ** _(2) Rival Battle - Silver - Sonic Generations OST_**

 _Without further delay, enjoy the show!_

* * *

 **Catch Me If You Can: Part 1 (Sonic vs Synergy)**

 _ **(1)**_ "Step on it, Tails!" Sonic the Hedgehog shouted, he hung up his message to Amy and cracked his fingers. He and Knuckles were standing on top of the Tornado's wings, waiting for Tails to get close enough to they can ambush Synergy. Tails twisted and turned the plane, increasing its fast acceleration. There was no way he was going to lose him or at least, that's what he kept telling himself. "We gotta speed up!"

"I'm going as fast as I can!" Tails replied. Synergy and Big were centered in his viewfinder on his Miles Electric. He zoomed in on the screen and watched Synergy turn his head, giving him a cold death stare.

"Let's just shoot him down and be done with this already!" Knuckles shouted, motioning to Sonic. "I have a lot of paperwork to do at Resistance HQ, and I _hate_ doing paperwork!"

"No!" Tails replied with a warning. "If we shoot them down, we'll risk hurting Big. I'll try and get closer to them. I'm going to swoop down and grab Big, you two jump on Synergy and pin him down!"

"Where are we going to pin him?" Sonic shrugged, looking around his environment. "Nothing but water is in sight!"

Synergy increased his speed by adding more power to his jet boosters. He was still holding Big above his head with both of his hands. The cat, despite not knowing what was going on, raised his hands and cheered with joy. Much to Synergy's surprise.

Speaking of him, he told himself that if he had lungs, he would be huffing and puffing like crazy because he was afraid of getting caught by the Resistance, thus hindering his chances of spending more time with Big and finding his missing family; the Nocturnus Clan. He turned over his shoulder and screeched, trying to increase his speed. But no matter how fast he went, the Tornado kept catching up to him.

"We're almost there, guys!" Tails said. "Just a little further!"

 _This is nuts!_ Synergy said in his mind. Big kept cheering. He was clearly enjoying himself. _First, I wake up and discover I've been asleep for a very long time. Then I make a new friend and learn how to fish, and now… I'm running away again! I can't do this forever! I have to do something!_

Synergy looked up at Big, who was still waving his arms back and forth, happy to be flying through the air. _But I can't hurt them in front of Big; I don't want to put him in any danger. Dah, I'll worry about that later! Right now, I got to lose these guys!_

Synergy made a sharp left in an attempt to cut the Tornado off, but Team Sonic anticipated his trick. They followed him.

 _Darn it!_ Synergy grunted in his mind. _This area is too wide! There's nothing here besides water! Is there any land I could use to take shelter?_

As if the Gods above were reading his mind, a piece of land came into Synergy's sight. He widened his bright blue eyes and made a curious sound.

The architecture he was looking was the New City; a modernized section of the city of Soleanna.

Everywhere Synergy looked, all he saw were buildings that were bigger than ones he's seen before. They were all multi-colored and looked a lot more modern than ones he's seen in his time. He remembered the times where his creators made their buildings out of stone and other materials, but despite how advanced they looked back in the day, they were nothing compared the ones Synergy was seeing.

That, and there was a warehouse district on the side of the town.

 _Perfect!_ Synergy nodded. He looked behind him and saw the Tornado gaining on him.

"Hang on, Big!" he said aloud. "We're going for a ride!"

"Wheeee!" Big chuckled, raising his hands. Froggy, who had been sitting on his head for the whole ride, wanted to get off as soon as possible. The blue and green Gizoid rode into the city. The Tornado was on his tail.

As Team Sonic rode around the town, the people of Soleanna looked up and watched the chase ensue. Some of the folks panicked and went to take shelter whereas others took out their cameras and started recording the fight. As with the Soleanna Guards (Being the idiots they are), they were goofing off in front of the train station.

The Tornado made a left turn, barely scratching a building on the side of them, as they increased their velocity. Synergy did the same thing after he looked over his shoulder. Making a right, he hoped to lose them by making them bump into a skyscraper, but Tails maneuvered the plane away from the skyscraper to avoid colliding with the building.

It was at that moment where Knuckles snapped his fingers; he had an idea. "Tails, follow close behind Synergy. Sonic, you and I will cut him off!"

Sonic smirked and gave Knuckles a thumbs up.

The latter kneeled down and allowed the latter to jump on his back. He jumped off the edge of the wing, gliding down the city with the hedgehog on his back.

"Take to the skies, my loyal steed!" Sonic pointed to the sky. "Free at last! Free at last!"

"I'm not the Tornado, Sonic," Knuckles said. "Keep this up and I'll drop you!"

Knuckles grabbed onto the side of an office complex and climbed up the walls; the workers inside were amazed to see a three-foot-tall echidna have enough strength and agility to climb himself and Sonic to the rooftop.

Sonic hopped off Knuckles' back and joined him in running across the roof. They jumped off and somersaulted when they landed on the building across from it. They did this about two-three times. But as soon as they landed on the fourth roof, Sonic jumped over the side and grinded on the telephone wires, he found himself getting close to Synergy and Big.

Knuckles landed on the wire and grinded next to Sonic, the two crouched down so they can increase their speed.

Synergy looked behind him and noticed that Sonic and Knuckles were missing from the Tornado's wings. Tails poked his head out from the pilot's seat and stuck his tongue out, angering the Gizoid.

Suddenly, Sonic and Knuckles jumped on top of Synergy.

The combined weight of them and Big caused Synergy to fly downward. He needed to lose some pounds if he wanted to get out of his alive. Luckily (or unlucky) for him, Big accidentally tipped over and began descending towards the solid ground. Instead of helping him, the Soleanna guards just gasped and pointed at the falling cat. What a bunch of idiots.

"Big!" Synergy worried. Knuckles jumped on his head and knocked him into the side of a building. Sonic and Knuckles kicked the Gizoid through the window of an office, sending glass fragments flying everywhere through the room. _**(1s)**_

Boom. Boom. Boom! Synergy tumbled across the ground, hit the desks, and landed, back first, against the wall. Both the hedgehog and the echidna jumped through the window as well. Knuckles and Sonic, narrowly avoiding the fragments on the floor focused their attention on Synergy, the employees ran out the door.

Synergy slowly got up on his feet and snarled. "I thought I killed you in that temple," Synergy said.

"The only thing that can kill me is me!" Sonic smirked.

"What? That doesn't even make any sense-Oh, gosh!" _**(2)**_

Knuckles cut the Gizoid's sentence off when he picked up a desk and chucked it right at him. Synergy formed a Chaos claw and slashed through the wooden structure. He lunged forward and kicked the echidna in the gut, right before Sonic homing attacked Synergy's chest. The Gizoid caught him as he was in his ball form and began dribbling him as if he was a blue basketball.

Knuckles ran forward to land another attack, but Synergy slam-dunked Sonic into Knuckles' head. He raised his foot back and kicked the two into another desk. As the two got off of each other, Sonic noticed a cup of coffee was sitting on top of the desk next to him.

Synergy extended both of his Chaos claws and slowly walked towards Sonic, he left scratch marks on the table in the process, making ear-deafening noises.

Sonic lunged upward and splashed the coffee into Synergy's face, making the Gizoid's eyes burn. He may have been water resistant, but his creators didn't make him to be immune to coffee.

" _Argh!_ My eyes, I'm blind!" Synergy shouted, wiping the coffee from his eyes. "What is that stuff!?"

"One of the many drinks that gets you up in the morning," Sonic threw the coffee mug in the air and caught it. "Sweet, hot coffee!"

"Something you're not allowed to drink," Knuckles said to Sonic, as he grabbed the mug from him and threw it at Synergy. It didn't do anything.

Sonic and Knuckles then tackled the Gizoid just as he activated his jet boosters. The three busted through the window and began freefalling towards the ground. Civilians and Soleanna Guards took off running, as all three combatants were fighting in the air.

Sonic kicked Synergy.

Synergy kicked Sonic.

Knuckles right hooked Synergy.

Synergy did the same thing back.

The Gizoid grabbed them with his claws and held them downwards, making sure they hit the ground first before he did. Sonic and Knuckles grunted and growled, as they tried to break free. But Synergy's iron grip couldn't set them loose.

Before they were close to the ground, the Tornado's propeller struck Synergy, causing his left arm to become wedged between the two propeller blades, nearly causing the tornado to stall.

Knuckles caught Sonic and placed him on his back, gliding across the city.

Tails unbuckled his seatbelt, but before he could jump out, Synergy grabbed the wing, pulling himself up. Tails quickly set the plane to auto-pilot, knowing he was going to have to fight.

"You little!" Synergy cursed. He attacked Tails with brute force. But using everything Sonic taught him about fighting, Tails ducked and dodged his attacks. He countered by swiping his tails across Synergy's face, tripping him with his feet, and slamming his chest with his fist.

Moaning in pain, Synergy grabbed the fox's hand and flipped him over, slamming him into the driver's seat. It was at that moment where Synergy ripped into the Tornado's systems and yanked out the circuits, a red alarm alerted Tails that the plane was about to crash.

Tails got up before Synergy kicked him again. But Tails took that hit like a man and took out something that'll make Synergy regret hitting him; a giant red Arm Cannon that he used to train Emerl with during the Emerl Incident.

He placed it around his right arm and aimed it at the four-thousand-year-old war machine, blasting him off the plane with a huge spark of yellow electricity. _**(2s)**_

As Synergy flew off the plane, Tails jumped overboard and watched his vehicle crash into the ocean. Water splashed onto the boats and onto the dock. Some civilians ran away; others were happy to get a nice splash on a hot day. Synergy landed in the water as well.

"Tails!" Sonic jumped off Knuckles' back, ran across the building's walls, and landed on the ground. Tails flew down in front of him and gave a small wave, and a depressed sigh. "Tails, are you okay!? That was sick! You defended yourself, that was awesome!"

"Ha-ha, thanks." Tails said. As soon as Sonic said he defended himself, this prompted Tails to bring something up from last night; the talk he and Sonic had before they went to bed. "Hey, Sonic, I have to tell you s-something. It's uh… um… it's about- "

"Hey!" Knuckles said, running into the docks. He looked down into the water, searching for Synergy. "Where did he go!?"

Tails was about to explain to Sonic what he wanted to talk about, but Sonic was too busy running over to Knuckles, investigating the water with him.

They saw nothing, but their reflections in the crystal-clear ocean.

"You see him anywhere?" Sonic asked, rubbing his head.

"Nope," Knuckles replied. "He's gone! Did we destroy him?"

Tails took out his Miles Electric, checking to see if any energy signatures could tell him where Synergy was located. But unfortunately, since Synergy damaged the controls, his Miles Electric was damaged as well. The screen glitched out, showing Tails green schematics of Synergy's body before it blacked out.

Tapping it to see if it'll come back on, Tails groaned and rolled his eyes. What a bad time for the Miles Electric to die on him, especially when it contained vital information on the dangerous Gizoid.

"Sorry, Sonic," Tails walked to the hedgehog and shook his head. "Synergy damaged my Miles Electric. I can't track him down anymore."

"Hey, Tails, that's all right," Sonic smiled. "We'll find him again, I know we will. I'm more concerned with what happened to Big."

"Oh, yeah!" Tails nodded. "I caught him with the Tornado, dropped him off, and told him to take a boat back to where he lives. He should be on his way home by now."

* * *

In the Warehouse district of Soleanna, Synergy jumped out of the water he used to escape and landed on the stone ground. He cracked his fingers and flexed his arms and legs, walking around the warehouse, admiring all of the barrels, boxes, storage houses, and towers that provided internet for the townsfolk.

He grunted. He growled. And he stomped the ground, mad at something bad that happened to him. But he wasn't mad that he nearly lost a fight against Team Sonic, he was mad that Big the Cat tripped and fell, possibly injuring himself or dying.

Synergy kicked a blue barrel to the side and spin dashed into a red, white, and blue starred silver box. He kicked the internet tower and ripped another barrel in half.

Just as he was about to sit down and mourn Big's death, he heard a whisper come from the side of one of the warehouses. Both of his eyes widened, and he rubbed his head, he wondered who made that sound.

"Synergy!" someone whispered. "Over there!"

It was Big the Cat: Alive and well.

Wiping his head with relief, Synergy ran over to Big. "Big, thank goodness you're okay. I thought I lost you for a second. Are you all right?"

"I'm fine, Tails caught me with the plane and saved me. He told me to head back home, but I wanted to wait for you. So, I hid here."

"That's a relief. I'm glad to know you're in one piece," Synergy said with joy, putting a hand on the cat's shoulder.

"I gotta ask you, Synergy, how come Sonic started chasing you in the Mystic Ruins?"

Before Synergy replied, he thought about his answer. It sounded like Big knew the blue hedgehog's name, he indicated that Big and Sonic knew each other. But here was the thing Synergy found hard to figure out, how close were Big and Sonic? Were they friends? Acquaintances? Partners? How close were they? Synergy wanted to ask these questions to him, but he didn't know how to ask them without making him sound suspicious.

Cause if that happened, Synergy could risk losing Big's trust in him.

After a few moments of thinking, he finally asked this question. "Oh, you know Sonic as well?"

"Yeah!" Big smiled. "He and I are good friends. I helped him defeat Chaos once when I was looking for Froggy on the Egg Carrier."

Froggy rolled his eyes, how he hated that memory.

"You know him too?" Big asked Synergy.

"Um… yeah!" Synergy replied, ready to tell his first lie in decades. "He found me in an old temple. I was hurt after an earthquake had happened and he saved me. The reason why he was chasing me with those two guys because… because… well…"

Big raised an eyebrow.

"We were playing a new game called Tag and Hide!" Synergy's lie finally came complete. "You see, the objective of the game is to run away from the tagger; who is the person chasing you. And you also have to hide from them, like what we're doing right now!"

Big took a moment to register all of this before replying, "Ohhhh… I get it now. But why were you fighting Sonic and Knuckles? They looked like they wanted to hurt you."

Synergy rubbed the back of his head. How was he going to answer this one? "Well, sometimes Sonic can get a little too competitive. He likes to kick things up a notch, you know?"

"That makes sense," Big nodded. "Sonic did get a little competitive when he raced against Ms. Amy on TV."

"Right… whatever you said," Synergy replied. He had no idea what Big referred to, but he didn't care. He wanted to get out before Sonic found him again. Gently grabbing Big's wrist, he began walking towards the water, preparing to take off again. "Come on, let's get out of here before- "

"Hold on a second," Big said. "I know this place… this is… this is Soleanna. Froggy and I have always wanted to come and spend a day here. I hear they have some really good food!"

"That's… nice."

"Synergy, can we stay here for a little bit? Froggy and I want to explore the area!"

"Eh, I don't know. I have some business I need to take care of back in the Mystic Ruins so…"

"Aww, can we stay? Just for a little while, I promise."

While finding the Nocturnus Clan was his main priority, Synergy didn't want to disappoint Big. He did want to spend more time with him after his fishing adventure was interrupted. He stroked his chin and nodded his head in agreement. "All right," he replied with a chuckle. "We can stay, but only for- "

Big hugged the Gizoid before carrying him over his shoulder, rushing out the warehouse door. "Thanks, Synergy! Come on, let's head down to the nearest cat food restaurant!"

"H-hey, wait!" Synergy shouted.

* * *

Metropolis: A recurring location in the adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog was the capital city of the Eggman Empire where Dr. Eggman had his central headquarters, and the most heavily fortified of Eggman's fortresses.

Most of the time, however, the town's owner has spent most of his time operating in out of mobile command centers or secret research labs rather than Metropolis. Eggman would also usually prioritize the establishment of the "ultimate city" he liked to call Eggmanland: A theme park he constructed during the Shattered World Crisis that was sadly destroyed by Sonic the Hedgehog and his good friend, Light Gaia "Chip."

Nonetheless, Metropolis has been the site of its fair share of battle between the hero of Mobius (and his allies) and the forces of evil.

After the Phantom Ruby War, the city has been demolished thanks to two invasions lead by Knuckles the Echidna and the Resistance. One was Operation: Big Wave; an attack that didn't end so well for the Resistance, and the second invasion was then the Resistance tried to capture Eggman and Infinite at the same time. They didn't succeed in that plan too, but they did leave the city damaged.

After the war ended, the city has become an abandoned wasteland.

What used to be pristine white buildings were now old, gross, disgusting multi-colored buildings that were covered in nothing but ashes and dirt. Little cracks could be seen on the windows.

Metropolis was now a gargantuan machine-city, a polluted nightmare of steel and concrete, replete with robot sentries that secured Dr. Eggman's rebuilt base of operations: The Imperial Tower, Orwellian tele-screens that showed video clips of the Resistance fighting Eggman's forces, and free-flowing rivers of radioactive slurry.

Despite all of its flaws, it was still home to Dr. Eggman.

Speaking of which, the doctor, who had spent a day walking from Sylvania Castle Zone to here was pacing down the road, ignoring the pollution that was poisoning the air around it. Robot sentries were escorting him back to his base so he could continue his work.

As he walked by, nothing but sludge flowed through the pipes, dripping out of the broken corner, falling in an acid puddle. More robots walked by, some of them were fixing each other whereas others were training to fight in combat. Dr. Eggman smiled and gave them all a cold smile.

His guard sentries escorted him to the Imperial Tower to which he nodded and waved them goodbye.

The doors shut.

He ascended to the top.

* * *

Not too many minutes have gone by and Dr. Eggman has made it to the top of the tower. Both elevator doors have opened, allowing the doctor to enter the interior of his laboratory. He opened the door and walked through an office he hoped would be clean but was instead a mess.

Rather than having an organized lab with tools nearly placed and Badniks running amuck, the place looked like the aftermath of a house party.

Slices of pizza sprinkled the floor, confetti was plastered all over the walls as well as the chairs and desks. Party horns were all over Eggman's desk and popcorn baskets were sitting near the pizza slices.

The doctor wondered how his base of operations came to be this way. He received his answer as soon as he heard lyrics to a song.

"Eggman is gone, we are free!" the lyrics were being sung by Orbot and Cubot. Speaking of the two, Eggman managed to find them messing around in the next room.

The two of them were playing with Dr. Eggman's Mean Bean Machine, one of the many games the doctor loved to play with. Orbot was playing the game, trying to beat his master's score while Cubot was dancing on the foosball table.

The players were shaped like Eggman and the foosball was shaped like Sonic's head.

"Eggman is gone, we are free!" Orbot and Cubot continued singing and dancing. "Happy day, happy day! Eggman is gone today!"

Dr. Eggman rolled his eyes and coughed, getting their attention.

Orbot and Cubot's joy came to an end when they heard the hack. They slowly turned their heads and stopped doing what they were doing, looking at their boss, who they thought was gone, with flabbergasted expressions.

An awkward silence set the mood.

"He's standing right there," Cubot whispered.

"Act normal," Orbot replied. He and Cubot walked up to Eggman, hugging the doctor by his legs. "Doctor Eggman! You're alive!"

"We're so relieved!" Cubot smiled. "We promise we won't abandon you again, Boss."

"You'll never what?" Dr. Eggman snarled.

"I mean, would you like to read a page from my memoirs?" Orbot asked.

"I have no time to deal with you two right now!" Dr. Eggman pushed them aside, walking back to his computer room and sitting down in his chair. "Clean this place up! I gotta get back to work!"

Before Eggman went back to his work, a stomp; a loud stomp was heard just outside the door. The noise got higher and higher as it got closer to the back door.

Orbot and Cubot stood back, cowering behind their master while the doctor took out his Egg Blasters, aiming them at the back door. He may not have any Super Badniks to guard him, but he was more than ready to shoot whatever was behind that door.

The door opened, revealing an alive and not so well… Metal Sonic.

The metallic hedgehog still had the hole in his chest. He got that because Synergy ripped a red Chaos Emerald from there.

"M-Metal!?" Dr. Eggman said, putting away his blasters. "You're okay!... Wait, never mind, you don't look so good."

Metal Sonic limbed an inch into the lab before he tripped over a chair leg, landing on his knees. He pushed himself upward, his red eyes were glitching, and proceeded to fall before his master. Dr. Eggman picked him up and held him over his shoulder, moaning and groaning in agony. Sonic the Hedgehog defeated another Metal Sonic. He placed the robotic doppelganger on the table and patted his head.

"Sonic defeated you yet again," Dr. Eggman groaned. "Even with a Chaos Emerald at your disposal."

"He says that as if this has happened for the first time," Orbot said to his cube-shaped friend.

"This is the first time Sonic defeated Metal?" Cubot asked.

Orbot facepalmed himself.

"D-d-doctor!" Metal said, his voice stuttered as much as his eyes twitched. "I-I-I got… miss-miss-miss Mobian Pie!... Doc-Doc-Doc… I know da wae!... Doc-Doc-Doc-!"

"Will you shut up so I could fix you!?" Dr. Eggman popped open Metal Sonic's back, fixing his circuits with a few tools. He dug a wrench into his back and tightened some loose bolts. "Sheesh, how bad did Sonic mess you up?"

"It-It-It was-was-was-wasn't S-S-So-So-Sonic!" Metal replied, his arms and legs jittered when he tried to talk. "He-he-he-he was a man with a unicorn on his nose and he used br-br-broccoli to kill the sloth who was eat-eat-eaten by a dinosaur. Doc-Doc-Doc Egg-Egg-Eggy-mo-Beggy! I discovered a-a-a-a new-new evil! It-it was a Gee-gee-gee-gee-geezood named dude!... No! He-he-he-he was a Gizoid named… named…"

"A Gizoid? I haven't experimented on one of those robots in ages. The last one I made turned on me. Now, he works for Sonic and his dingus friends. What was his name?"

"H-his name-name-name thing that I will say to thee was Synergggyyyyyyyyyyyyyy…" Metal Sonic's systems shut down.

"His name was what?" Dr. Eggman inquired. "Metal?... hello?... Metal, wake up!"

No response.

"Metal? Did you deactivate on me!? I'm going to kill you if you shut down on me! Wait, that came out wrong!"

No response again.

And then, there was a voice. "Sorry to intrude on your work, Doctor Eggman," said the voice. It was Dr. Starline. He, Rough, and Tumble walked from the shadows and into the room.

"How long have they been standing there?" Cubot asked.

Dr. Eggman whipped out his Egg Blasters again and held the three at gunpoint. "How do you think you are!? If you've come to rob me, don't try! The last group that tried to rob me, they got a taste of the Phantom Ruby! One of them became my right-hand man until I found he was weak! Don't be like that canine!"

"Please, Doctor, I mean you no harm," Dr. Starline put his hands up, showing his idol mercy. "After all… I've made a career out of studying you."

Dr. Eggman raised an eyebrow.

"Allow me to finish Metal Sonic's sentence," the platypus continued. "The Gizoid that attacked him. His name is… Project: Synergy."

 _ **END OF CHAPTER 8**_

* * *

 _Dr. Eggman and Dr. Starline meeting each other for the first time? This can't be a pretty partnership. Looks like Synergy has gotten away once again, and we finally get to see some part of his evil side again. Not only does he attack Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles but he also lies to Big, tricking him into thinking this is nothing but a game. Imagine what would happen if Synergy and Big find out... you know what? I said too much. Stay tuned for "Chapter 9: Catch Me If You Can: Part 2" to see more action and adventure._

* * *

 ** _POST-A/N:_**

 _Like Mighty and Ray, I haven't forgotten about Dr. Eggman. I am glad to be bringing him back into the spotlight because he and Dr. Starline play a vital role in this story. Project: Synergy will be a pretty big target for the two of them._

 _Aren't the Soleanna Guards such idiots? Instead of allowing Sonic and Tails to enter Dusty Desert, they decide to play guessing games, making Sonic and Tails figure out who the captain it when really, it's the same guy you talk to when you activate the mission. WTF (What the Fudge!?)_

 _Synergy's evil side has returned again. Let's see how long he can keep up the act._

 _I never played Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine, but it is a fun little Easter Egg in Sonic Mania(Plus)._

 _Thanks for taking the time to read, be sure to fav/follow/ and review if you want to see more. I'm the Sensational SpiderDom321, signing off! Peace out, web heads!_

 _~SD321 (SpiderDom321)_


	9. A Wolf in the Shadows

_**A/N:** Special thanks to Infinite's Ruby, TGN, SharpDragonKlaw, Ways, and Zoggerific for the reviews they have left for me. As a reply to Zoggerific: That is a weird little factoid about G-merl in the Archie Comics. I actually tried looking it up to see if it is true, but I couldn't find anything. Regardless, the Official Sonic Wiki says that he is a guy so I am keeping him the way he is. But that Is a nice little factoid. I am glad you think I am introducing the IDW characters in a respective manner. As for your request to reupload Sonic and the Secret Strikers (My old Sonic Forces story) No, thanks. I already have a remake of that called Sonic Heroes: The Atom Bomb. I don't want Secret Strikers reuploaded again. Sorry._

 _There is actually another new character coming in this very chapter. Special thanks to MOBIUS chronicles and Zoggerific for leaving a favorite and follow as well. And special thanks to everyone because we're almost up to **50 reviews!** That's pretty awesome! And thanks to getting this story up to **1,000+** **Views!**_

 _Disclaimer: Sonic the Hedgehog and related properties belong to SEGA (IDW Characters belong to SEGA and IDW Comics)_

 ** _Suggested Music:_**

 ** _(1) Soleanna Castle Town - Sonic the Hedgehog 2006 OST_**

 ** _(2) Fly in the Freedom (Rouge's Theme) - Sonic Adventure 2/Battle OST_**

 ** _(3) Eggman's Facility (Rhythm and Balance Remix) - Sonic Forces OST_**

 _Without further ado, enjoy the show! ;)_

* * *

 **Catch Me If You Can: Part 2 (A Wolf In the Shadows)**

 _ **(1)**_ As Team Sonic resumed their search for their new foe, Amy and the Resistance were walking around the Soleanna Castle Town; a small, quaint, quiet little town that was as modern as the New City, however, the way the town was ran was a lot more traditional than its modernized counterpart next door.

The Resistance were walking down the central courtyard of the town, where they could get a good view of a large monument in the middle of a lake as well as the many people that were enjoying their old school lifestyle.

Everywhere they looked, particularly Mighty and Ray, they saw nothing but people wearing traditional Italian clothing, eating freshly made cuisines, taking pictures with film cameras, and chatting with the Soleanna Guards.

Mighty and Ray admired more of the gorgeous scenery more than the other members of the Resistance did, mainly because the two of them have always travelled. But unlike Sonic, they would often stay in a location for a few days just so they can fully explore the arable layout of the land. Mighty and Ray loved seeing the smiles on peoples' faces as they talked to one another, laughing, chatting, and having a good time.

The armadillo was about to comment on how he and Ray should stay here for a few days, but as soon as he turned his head to his best friend, he noticed something was wrong.

Ray didn't look very happy to be here.

Which was weird, Ray has normally been excited about going to new places with Mighty, but for some reason, he wasn't feeling that same enthusiastic feeling he always shared. Why was that?

Ray twiddled his thumbs, twirled his scarf, and rubbed his goggles. He felt his knees shake, causing him to barely trip on every other step he made. His tail curled and his wings were dripping with sweat. It was clear that he was anxious, something Mighty picked up right away.

He placed a hand on his shoulder and said this in a calm tone: "Ray, are you okay?"

"H-huh!?" Ray stuttered, feeling nervous to share his feelings. "H-hi, M-M-Mighty. W-what's up?"

"Are you feeling okay?" Mighty asked again. "What's wrong?"

Ray took a quick second to think of his answer. "I-I-I-I'm a-a-a-a-a-a… um…."

"You still nervous around us, kid?" Vector inquired. "Don't worry, dude, the Chaotix and I don't bite."

"Vector does," Charmy pointed out in a teasing tone.

"Quiet, Charmy!" Vector snarled.

"Vector may be gruff, but he genuinely means no harm," Espio said, patting the squirrel's back, hoping to reassure him. "Charmy is just joking. The only thing Vector bites are robots. He would never hurt you or anyone else in the Chaotix."

"N-no, i-it´s n-not that," Ray stuttered again, holding his hands. "It's this robot guy we´re going to fight soon. I-I'm worried s-s-something's going to go w-wrong! W-what if he wins? W-what if we lose? What if I l-l-l-lose… what if we lose the ones we care about?"

"Whoa, calm down, kid," Vector smiled, patting the squirrel´s shoulder. "We'll be a-okay! Wanna know why? Because we´re the Resistance! We survived much worse. Escaping the Death Egg, Operation: Big Wave, almost getting burnt to a crisp by the sun, you name it!"

"And, Ray," said Amy, as she walked up to the group. "I thought I lost Sonic when he was killed by Infinite, I thought he was gone forever. So, I decided to start working harder and getting stronger because I felt that is what he would have wanted me to do. I felt stronger working with the Resistance, even when Sonic was gone, I felt like a better person. What I'm trying to say is… when we join forces, nothing will stop us!"

Ray sniffed before he smiled, wiping away a small tear. "S-sorry, guys. I-I-I was just a l-little worried, that´s a-all. Thank y-you." _**(1s)**_

Suddenly, a flirtatious, seductive, voice haunted the Resistance. "The kid has a right to be cautious,"

The Resistance looked around the environment, wondering who said that voice. Vector gasped when he looked to the side, pointing at the top of a building. It was Rouge the Bat, who had been spying on them since they met up in Blue Ridge. _**(2)**_

Charmy gulped. Espio rolled his eyes. Mighty and Ray were confused. And Amy let out a fowl snarl.

"There are all sorts of nasty people in this world," Rouge said, flying down to their position.

"Rouge!" Amy said, surprised.

"At your service," the bat bowed. "Nice to see you again, teammates. It felt just like yesterday we were fighting against a jackal, some clones of past villains, Dr. Eggman, and confronting the millionth reuse of the Egg Nega Wisp. I'm glad to be seeing you all again."

"At our service?" Amy raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, right! You only care about getting what _you_ want!"

"And what I want is to help you guys find the Gizoid," Rouge chuckled, making a kind gesture. "Synergy's his name, right?"

"Ah-ha! You were spying on us!" Amy pointed at the bat.

"Not at all, G.U.N. sent Shadow and I to look for the Chaos Emeralds, they've gone missing since the end of the war. I was in Blue Ridge looking for them until Knuckles called me and told me that there was a new robot in town. That, and it doesn't take much spying when anyone within a hundred feet can hear you, _**"Have you guys found Team Chaotix yet!? How about now!?"**_ "

Amy snarled and cracked her fingers, stretching her neck. "Mighty, Ray, want to know how to use a hammer _properly!?_ "

Before Amy could use her hammer to flatten Rouge into a pancake, Mighty gently grabbed the hammer. His iron grip truncated Amy's attack. "Let's not jump to anymore fighting, Amy," he said to her. "Is it really hard to believe this Rouge character is here to help?"

Vector and Charmy chuckled at Mighty's question, leaving the armadillo confused.

"Listen kid," Vector wiped a tear of laughter, wrapping his arm around Mighty's shoulder. "I'll cut you some slack cause you haven't been around for a long time. If there's anything I know about Rouge the Bat, she's one mean, vicious, jewel-loving, manipulative broad."

"Oh, please," Rouge scoffed. "I'm plenty trustworthy."

"No way, you're a spy!" Amy yelled.

"A spy for G.U.N. your ally, remember?" Rouge winked, folding her arms.

"You're as shady as they come!"

"No worse than the Babylon Rogues, and you worked with them once or twice."

"I… what… you!"

"Don't stop now, you were doing so well."

" _Everyone, stop it!_ " Espio clapped his hands together, getting the girls' attention. "Amy, a word for a moment? Look, I know you don't trust Rouge, but she has worked with us on multiple occasions. She helped us fight Metal Overlord, she fought off the Black Arms, and she was able to give us intel on the Phantom Ruby. She may not be the nicest Freedom Fighter, but she does have a good heart."

Amy let out a low sigh, Espio was right.

She and Rouge may not be the best of friends, but there were times that they had put aside their differences in terms of saving the world. She even recalled a time where they had to work together in order to prevent the Eclipse Cannon from destroying Mobius aka the day they first met each other.

She let out a low sigh and turned to the bat, she was smirking. Amy rolled her emerald green eyes before continuing to move forward. "You can help us, Rouge. Come on, Resistance, let's move forward. We still need to find Silver."

"Yes, Ma'am!" Rouge chuckled, giving a salute. "Way to take command!"

Amy and the Chaotix moaned and rolled their eyes. Mighty and Ray were still confused about the bat's eagerness to help out in locating this Silver character. _**(2s)**_

* * *

Shadow the Hedgehog stood above a snowy mountain in White Park Zone: a hybrid of Ice Cap and Carnival Night that neighbored the Sylvania Castle.

He was standing on a mountain of snow, looking down at a formally deserted amusement park that was covered in nothing but soft, watery, freezing cold white snow. Watching the people have fun below, he observed that many young Mobians and humans were enjoying themselves, not caring about how cold the climate was.

The place was plastered with decorated pine trees, Christmas lights covered every inch of the branches and bark. Icy caves sparkled as the light of the moon reflected off of them, but sadly, they were too dangerous for children and adults to explore because they were filled with nothing but water. Much like Sylvania Castle, the water would randomly rise up for no reason. Shadow didn't bother exploring those caves, all he wanted to do was stand on top of a mountain, a Christmas tree stood beside him, shining its beautiful lights onto his fur.

Letting out a low sigh, Shadow's eyes were drawn to the lights coming from the park itself. Screams of enjoyment prevented any peace and quiet he would have liked to have, but he didn't mind that it was noisy. It was an amusement park, what did he expect?

Ferris Wheels turned around and around. People threw bean bags at targets, hoping to win over-sized plushies for their loved ones, and kids ate nothing but popsicle sticks and candy. Sounds like fun, right?

But of course, Shadow wasn't there to have fun. He was travelling the world in search of the missing Chaos Emeralds. After the war ended, G.U.N. sent him and Rouge to go look for them. Unaware that Rouge was following the reunited Resistance, he looked at the night sky, feeling the moon's light shine on him. He knew he had to continue looking for Chaos Emeralds, but the sight of people having fun and the bright colors of the park distracted him.

It was clear he thought they were beautiful.

But of course, work had to come in and ruin his personal moment.

" _Shadow, Shadow, can you hear me?"_ Rouge said over her communicator.

Shadow held his wrist communicator up to his mouth, letting out a sigh. Cold air blew from his mouth. "I'm here, Rouge, what's the problem?"

" _Have you found any Chaos Emeralds yet?"_ Rouge asked.

"No, I haven't found any. How are things on your end?" Shadow replied.

" _I've had a change in plans. Knuckles contacted me and said that Sonic encountered a Gizoid named Synergy yesterday. Him, Tails, and Knuckles are chasing after him in Soleanna while Amy is here getting the Resistance back together. As much I want to have those little jewels to myself, this sounds more important. I need you to come down to Soleanna ASAP. We could use your help."_

"Understood, I'll be there in a few- "

Ruffle. Ruffle. Whoosh! A gust of wind blew against Shadow's back. He turned around and saw nothing. Something was obviously there.

" _A few what?"_ Rouge inquired.

"I'll call you back," Shadow said.

" _Don't you dare hang up-!"_ Rouge got out her last words before her best friend hung up on her.

Shadow took a few small steps into the woods, which were covered in nothing, but trees covered in snow. They weren't Christmas trees, they were normal trees that showed the darkness of the forest. It was at that moment where Shadow saw a giant blue eye hiding somewhere in the shadows.

 _An eye?_ He wondered to himself. _What is that?_

And then out of nowhere, the figure lunged at Shadow.

The black hedgehog was quick enough to get down on his back and lift his feet up, kicking the figure over his head. It landed on the ground and tried to regain her balance, but it couldn't do so because Shadow tackled them, the two of them began falling down the snowy mountain.

As they free-falled to the surface. Shadow realized that the figure he was fighting was a female, a female wolf to be exact. Before he can analyze what she looks like, she pulled her fist back and landed a punch across Shadow's jaw.

Shadow advanced on the figure by kicking her in the chest, grabbing her shoulders and punching her directly in the face. This caused the two of them to flip backward for what seemed like an endless amount of times. Every time they'd try to attack each other again, the way they were falling made them miss each other every time.

Shadow was doing endless front flips.

The wolf did endless backflips.

As they went to fight again, they dropped face first in the snow.

Shadow pulled his head and shook his head, smacking his ears to get some snow that was stuck in there out. He let out an angry snarl, standing up on his feet. As he walked up to the figure, the wolf jumped up and showed off her appearance.

She was an Mobian wolf with brown skin and biscotti fur. She also had thick black eyelashes and cloudy white fur around her eyes that resembled a mask. Her eyes were cadet blue, although they were squinting. Shadow wondered this, but he didn't want to risk losing his concentration. The wolf lunged at him again and began fighting Shadow, but much to her surprise, she was a lot faster than him.

As Shadow kept dodging every punch, he analyzed the rest of her appearance. _**(3)**_

The wolf wore light grey eyeshadow and had a long bushy tail which ended in several tufts of fur sticking out in different directions. She also had long pointed ears and quite long hair that she kept tied at the back with a black hair tie, save for a long, thick hair bang that covered her right eye.

Her fangs protruded from her mouth which (in this case) was a snarl of frustration because Shadow kept dodging her attacks.

He noticed that the wolf wore a cream-colored tube top, light grey leggings, and a dark grey cloak, in which she seemed to keep six Wisp canisters. The cloak also had black and dark gray pockets that were noticeable on the shoulders.

For attire, the mysterious fighter wore an outfit geared towards combat.

This included dark gray arm sleeves with black elbow pads, dark and light gray gloves with visible sharp fingers, and dark gray knee sleeves and black knee pads. Shadow saw that she sported military fashioned black, dark gray, and light gray boots. She could sometimes be seen wearing her cat-like ornate mask scope, which is cream, dark gray and light gray in color. Three holes are seen at the right side of the mask and a blue "eye" on the left side.

Shadow kicked her in the face, and she dug her fist into his chest. The two slid across the snow, looking each other in the eyes.

"Who are you?" Shadow grunted.

The wolf took out a weird looking Wispon, one that looked capable of harnessing the power of all the Wisps. She aimed it at the black hedgehog before saying her name in a low tone, _"Whisper,"_

Whisper the Wolf pulled the trigger and shot the black hedgehog across the woods, thanks to the power of the Hover Wisp at her disposal. Shadow wound up landing at the front of the entrance of the park, scaring the heck out of the man who collected the tickets of any people entering.

He offered Shadow his hand, "Ticket, please." The man said, shakily trying to keep his equanimity.

Whisper jumped out of the snowy bushes, her Wispon as set to Cube mode. Shadow panicked and leaped over the gate, entering the park. As he ran across the park, he shouted to all the people there.

"Everyone, get out!" he warned them. "Get somewhere safe, _**GO!**_ "

As people grabbed their significant others and/or their children, Whisper slammed the ground with her Cube Hammer, creating a few blue shock waves that not only shot piles of snow into the air, but they also stunned Shadow for a brief moment. The Ultimate Life Form jumped into the air and homed into Whisper with a spin dash.

Her Wispon quickly changed to the Laser Mode. She shot a cyan bolt of energy at Shadow, but he deflected it with a Chaos Spear.

Whisper swatted at Shadow with her weapon, but not matter how skilled she was, Shadow always found a way to fight back. He caught Whisper's fist as it flew at his face, punched her chest, picked her up, held her over his shoulder, and slammed her onto into the snow. A sloppy snow track was left behind.

The biscotti furred and brown skinned wolf grunted, setting her weapon to Rocket Mode, shooting an orange rocket of energy at Shadow's chest.

The force of the impact show Shadow right into the merry-go-round's, he landed against a white horse.

As Whisper changed her Wispon back to Hammer Mode, she ran towards Shadow, panting and panting. Shadow grunted before he looked around the merry-go-round. From left to right, he saw nothing but horses of black, brown, and white colors. He then glanced to the side and saw the machine that determined what level of speed the ride would go at.

A light bulb shined in Shadow's head; he had an idea.

Whisper jumped on the ride and smashed her hammer into the white horse, Shadow dodged the attack. Fragments of plastic shot everywhere, some landed in the snow; other pieces landed in the merry-go-round. The black and gray-costumed wolf swatted her hammer at the black hedgehog, eventually smacking him in the chest.

Shadow grabbed the hammer with his hands and used all of his strength to lift Whisper in the air. She slammed her onto the back of a black horse. Whisper got up quickly to kick Shadow, to which he blocked her foot. He slammed his hand against the wolf's back before she grabbed his chest fur and slammed his head against the golden pole the horse was stuck to.

Dazed, Shadow missed his chance to block Whisper's next attack; a volley kick.

As Whisper moved in for what she hoped to be a final strike, Shadow jumped over her and boosted over to the controls.

The settings were labeled by speed, _"Normal, Super, Hyper."_

Shadow pulled the lever and set the amusement park ride to Hyper Mode. "Hmph!" he grunted.

Whisper set her Variable Wispon (as she called her rifle shaped gun) to Spikes Mode. She realized that Shadow had set her up in a trap. The merry-go-round started going slow at first before it increased its velocity into super mode. She grabbed onto the golden pole and held on tight because she was going for a ride.

Feeling like the entire planet Mobius has gone upside down, Whisper felt the wind slap her in the face, feeling like she was going over one million miles per hour. She felt like she was going too fast, but she decided to keep an iron grip on the pole.

Just then, fives Wisps; Laser, Rocket, Spikes, Cube, and Hover came out of her Wisp canisters and phased through the merry-go-round. They approached Shadow and swarmed around him like bees.

"Gah! Get off me!" Shadow growled, swatting at the Wisps. The Hover Wisp flew over to the machine and set everything back to normal mode. The merry-go-round slowly decreased its speed, the world was no longer upside down. Whisper finally grabbed her weapon, ran over to the machine, kicked Shadow in the face, and regrouped with her Wisps.

"Chaos Spear!" Shadow shouted, nailing the wolf in her chest with a golden spear.

But that didn't stop her from firing back using her Laser Mode. A cyan bolt shot out of her rifle and shot right into a box full of over-sized plushies.

Whisper tackled Shadow again and the two rolled against the snow, punching, kicking, and bashing each other with everything they've got.

The latter punched the former. The former smacked the latter with her rifle.

"Chaos Spear!" Shadow shot three spears out of his hands, all three of them missed Whisper as they exploded into the snow. Flakes of snow flew into the night sky, as Whisper lunged forward with her Spike Mode ready to fire. "I may not know who you are, but one thing is for certain, you will _not_ defeat me!"

Whisper didn't listen to Shadow, as she shot a ball of pink spikes, Shadow kicked it aside and grabbed Whisper's collar.

"You're crazy!" he scolded her, smashing her head against the soft snow. "They're innocent people here, you could kill someone!"

Whisper leaned her head upward, headbutting Shadow's face. One roundhouse kick from her knocked him against the snow which caused him to land in the bean bag toss stand. From there, he grabbed a few bean bags and chucked them at Whisper, hoping it would throw her off.

The wolf deflected the first four bean bags, but the fifth one hit her in the face, giving Shadow the chance to uppercut her jaw. Whisper flew into the night sky and landed, stomach first, against the snow.

But just as Shadow thought the fight was over, Whisper slowly got up; her body was shaking. Her five Wisps shot out of her canisters and helped her up; she eyeballed Shadow with a cold death stare.

The black hedgehog wasn't amused by this fight anymore. "I don't have time for this," he scoffed, as he took off into the caves of White Park.

Whisper took a deep breath before she told her Wisps, _"Let's go."_

It was at that moment where they ran after Shadow, their fight was not over yet. _**(3s)**_

* * *

"So, you mean to tell me that you've studied my work?" Dr. Eggman asked the mysterious platypus that miraculously walked into his building undetected. Orbot and Cubot were fetching their boss a meatball sub while Rough and Tumble explored the area. They noticed that the place looked similar to their boss's HQ, but with a few differences. The Final Egg was a bit more organized and had a lot less stuff int it than the Imperial Tower did. The skunk brothers exchanged looks before continuing to explore their new surroundings.

"Yes, I have, Doctor," Dr. Starline nodded. Orbot and Cubot brought their boss his sandwich. He took a bite and listened to the rest of Starline's story. "For many years, I have been fascinated with your work. The design of your Badniks, your master plans, everything! You truly have inspired me."

"So you say," Dr. Eggman replied, chewing on a meatball he picked out from the sandwich. He swallowed it and spoke, "I'm not used to inspiring others, I'm used to being _hated_ by others. Why does something tell me you're lying?"

"If I was lying to you," Dr. Starline shook his head. "Then, how would I know that you once hired Knuckles the Echidna, Fang the Sniper, and Metal Sonic to kill Sonic the Hedgehog. You called that plan Operation: Triple Trouble."

"Oh, yeah, I remember that," Dr. Eggman nodded. "That was a very old plan… and an underrated game."

"And what about the time you used Chaos Control to take over the world?" Dr. Starline raised an eyebrow.

"Be specific, I've tried to use Chaos Control multiple times, it's hard to keep track of how many."

"You had a Gizoid by the name of G-merl, also spelt _'Gemerl,'_ by your side. He turned on you when he collected all seven Chaos Emeralds and achieved his ultimate form."

Dr. Eggman was surprised to hear that someone was weird and nerdy as Dr. Starline knew about his old plans and old creation. He took another bite of his meatball sub, raising an eyebrow. He spoke to him again as his mouth as full of food. "He _did_ turn on me! Piece of junk! Now, he works for Sonic and his band of dingus Freedom Fighters. But so what? Just because you know about my obscure plans doesn't make me less suspicious of you… Starline, was it?"

"Yes. I know you don't trust me, and you have a good reason not to, most people you've worked with in the past have turned on you. Even your own Metal Sonic has betrayed you once or twice. But let me assure you, Doctor," Starline pressed his hands together. "I mean you no harm. I have something important to tell you."

Dr. Eggman finished his meal and ordered Orbot and Cubot to make him some nacho chips with a small bowl of guacamole. "What is it?"

"Since we were on the topic of G-merl, he was the second Gizoid you built, correct?" Dr. Starline asked, a bitter smile was on his face.

"Yes, the first one I made was an experiment of my grandfather, Dr. Gerald Robotnik. His name was Emerl, at least that's what Sonic called him, and he was piece of garbage! He didn't even do as I said, so I unleashed his true programming by using a machine to blow up a star! But even that didn't work because that rat of a Gizoid turned against me! Sonic and his friends had to kill him. I created G-merl using some of Emerl's biodata." Dr. Eggman saw Orbot and Cubot bring him the food he requested. He took a chip, dipped it in guacamole, and took a bite. "That was the last time I ever experimented with Gizoids. Thank goodness Sonic destroyed all of them during the Nocturnus Clan incident."

"He destroyed all of the Gizoids?" Dr. Starline chuckled, stroking his chin. Rough and Tumble turned their heads, wondering what the doc will say about the robot they met in their former kingdom. "Dr. Eggman, I hate to correct you, but not all the Gizoids were destroyed."

Dr. Eggman stopped himself from taking a bite of another nacho, shocked. He put the chip down and folded his hands. "What?"

"Not all of the Gizoids were annihilated, not counting G-merl, one of them managed to survive." the platypus pointed.

"Can you prove it?" Dr. Eggman took a bite of the nacho he put down, dipping another one in his dip.

Dr. Starline turned his head, looking over Dr. Eggman's shoulder. He saw a deactivated Metal Sonic sitting on the table. Pushing his glasses upward, he grinned. "Does Metal Sonic record everything he sees?"

 _ **END OF CHAPTER 9**_

* * *

 _What has Metal Sonic recorded in his systems? Could it be something that links to Project: Synergy? Will our heroes be okay with Rouge rejoining the team despite her shady methods? We shall see. Another IDW character made her debut in here and that was Whisper the Wolf. My personal favorite IDW exclusive character aside from Dr. Starline. I like Tangle as well, but she's not one of my favorites yet. I'm waiting for that Tangle and Whisper Miniseries to change my mind on her. I don't hate Tangle at all, I just like Whisper and Starline a lot more. Anyways, find out what happens to our heroes and villains in "Chapter 9: Catch Me If You Can: Part 3"_

* * *

 ** _POST-A/N:_**

 _As I said above, Whisper makes her debut in here. The fight scene between her and Shadow is inspired by a certain panel in IDW Sonic the Hedgehog Issue #9. During the scene where everyone is going to Angel Island to stop Neo Metal Sonic from stealing the Master Emerald, Sonic thanks Whisper for coming along. It's at that moment where Whisper opens her eyes (She normally has them close) and gives Shadow a cold death stare, indicating something happened to her during the war that involved Shadow in some way. I assume a Phantom Clone of Shadow did something to her, but I don't want to make assumptions?_

 _While the Babylon Rogues will not appear in this fic itself (They are in my other story, Sonic Heroes: The Atom Bomb, a story that really needs to get updated soon) another classic will make their appearance in here. They were mentioned in IDW Sonic the Hedgehog Issue #3. Can you guess who they are?_

 _Sonic Triple Trouble and Sonic Advance 3 were referenced during Eggman and Starline's conversation. I played the latter for the Gameboy Advance but I never played Triple Trouble._

 _I haven't forgotten about Silver. He will come back soon._

 _That's all I have to say for now. Thank you for taking the time to read this chapter. Don't forget to favorite, follow, and review. I'm the Sensational SpiderDom321, signing off!_

 _~SD321 (SpiderDom321)_


	10. The Cat and the Gizoid

_**A-N:** Before we begin, I want to clarify something in case some people get confused. When Rouge told Amy in the last chapter, that Knuckles called her, that didn't indicate that Rouge was the mysterious caller Knuckles has been trying to contact for the past few chapters. Those options were Shade the Echidna, Julie-Su, Princess Elise, and Mama Luigi. Blaze was an option but she has been an eliminated choice because she was revealed a couple chapters ago. I wanted to state this just in case some people reading this got confused. That's all ;)_

 _Special thanks to Alexandria Prime, SharpDragonKlaw, TGN, and Infinite's Ruby for reviewing as always. We have made it past **50 reviews!** It may not seem like it but to me, that's a nice milestone right there. Thank you all for making this happen! ;) And special thanks to my co-writer/partner in crime Infinite's Ruby for the help. Be sure to check out her Sonic Forces story; The Illusionary Resistance. It's already up to over **40 chapters!**_

 ** _Suggested Music:_**

 ** _(1) Soleanna Forest - Sonic the Hedgehog 2006 OST_**

 ** _(2) I Get Around - The Beach Boys_**

 ** _(3) Apotos Night - Sonic Unleashed OST_**

 _Without further ado, enjoy the show._

* * *

 **Catch Me If You Can: Part 3 (The Cat and the Gizoid)**

Thanks to Dr. Starline's suggestion, Dr. Eggman has gotten the idea to rebuild Metal Sonic in order to find any recordings of Sonic and the Gizoid that attacked him yesterday. He grabbed a screwdriver from the table and tightened the loosened bolts in his systems.

Dr. Starline watched in complete amazement, although his idol was just making a simple repair to his valuable creation. But still, he was more than happy to watch the man he's admired for a long-time work on something. Starline kindly handed Eggman a wrench to which the latter rudely grabbed it from him; he still didn't trust the platypus's intentions. So, he just decided to snarl at him while working on Metal Sonic's repairs.

In the back, Orbot and Cubot were playing cards against Rough and Tumble. The skunk brothers curled their tails (Well, since Tumble was missing a large part of his tail, he couldn't curl it that much) and eyeballed each other, exchanging cocky grins.

They were confident that they were going to win.

"Rough, do you have any threes?" Orbot asked.

"Ha! Bingo!" Rough slammed his hand of cards on the table, scaring Orbot and Cubot. "Ha-hahahahaha! You guys think you're so smart, but _I'm_ the one who won this… oh, wait, I think I made a mistake."

Orbot and Cubot facepalmed themselves. Tumble rolled his eyes. Rough wiped a small, sad tear from his eye as he sat back down in his seat, unhappy he lost a card game.

"Got it!" Dr. Eggman said. He made the last few adjustments to Metal Sonic and backed away. Dr. Starline did the same thing his hero did.

Within a matter of seconds, Metal Sonic's red pupils shined as bright as the sun. The hole in his chest was fully repaired and all of the bruises and dents on him had been fixed. The newly reborn Metal Sonic looked up at his boss, happy to see him. Orbot, Cubot, Rough, and Tumble turned around to look at the robotic hedgehog.

"Doctor?" Metal said in a soft and confused tone, his red eyes glitched out a bit before going back to normal.

"Metal!? You're okay!" Dr. Eggman smiled and nodded his head. "How _dare_ that Sonic damage you! He wouldn't recognize a work of art if it punched him in the face!... you did punch him the face, right?"

Metal Sonic gave a thumbs up.

"Attaboy!" Dr. Eggman shot his creation a wink.

Metal Sonic was about to say something until he saw the presence of Dr. Starline. Thinking he was someone that wanted to harm his master, he extended his claws and lunged at the platypus, but before he could land a hit, Dr. Eggman grabbed Metal by his chest and held him back. Orbot and Cubot took a step back while Rough and Tumble widened their eyes, surprised to see their master get swatted at by an Eggman robot.

"Hold on there, Metal Sonic, hold on. This man doesn't mean any harm, at least that's what he's saying," Dr. Eggman said, pointing to Dr. Starline. "Do not engage him or those two skunks."

"Who are those two skunks anyway?" Metal pointed to the two skunks.

Rough and Tumble gasped in excitement that someone acknowledged them. They got off their butts and stood up, ready to perform their classic routine.

"That's our cue," said Rough.

"You better be humble," said Tumble.

" _You're in the presence of_ _ **Rough and Tumble!**_ " both skunks shouted at the same time, striking fashion poses. Rough was dabbing and Tumble held his fists up.

Dr. Starline, Dr. Eggman, and Metal Sonic stared at them awkwardly. So did Orbot and Cubot. How do you respond to that?

"Do they always do that?" Dr. Eggman raised a brow.

"Unfortunately," Dr. Starline sighed. "But they're violent, stupid, saw a blue and green Gizoid, and hate Sonic. Perfect minion fodder for you, sir."

"Do not mention that robot scum in front of me!" Metal snarled, leaning back on the table. "He humiliated me in combat!"

"Wait, you _did_ see a Gizoid in Sylvania Castle Zone?" Dr. Eggman asked.

"He ripped the red Chaos Emerald you gave me, Doctor, and he took off with it! I swear, as soon as I see him again, I will tear him limb from limb!"

"Do you have any recordings of your encounter with him?" Dr. Eggman inquired.

"As a matter of fact, I do, Master," Metal got off the table, putting his feet on the ground. "Have a look."

Metal Sonic's eyes suddenly projected a bright red video screen, but instead of showing a video of Synergy's awakening, there was instead a picture of Dr. Eggman, a rather creepy picture of Dr. Eggman. One that looked a lot more realistic and disgusting than what Dr. Eggman really looks like.

Dr. Eggman, Starline, Orbot, Cubot, Rough, and Tumble gasped with fear. None of them knew what the heck they were looking at.

"What the heck am I looking at!?" Dr. Eggman shouted with fear. "Cheese and rice, I look thinner, my nose isn't pink, I have wrinkles and… oh my god! My eyes! Why do I have blue eyes in that picture!?"

"This must have been taken during the Doc's awkward teenage years," Cubot whispered to Orbot.

"And what's with my jacket!?" Dr. Eggman continued. "Whoever made this picture should have given me a cool looking jacket! Instead, it looks like I thought to myself _'Hmm, big golden nipples, that's what my jacket needs!'_ Metal, get rid of that 2006 DeviantArt abomination!"

Metal Sonic turned off the creepy picture and loaded the video of him and Sonic's fight in the temple. Dr. Eggman and Dr. Starline watched at the two hedgehogs raced up the walls and leaped downwards, striking each other with everything they've got.

Tumble pulled two beach chairs out of Hammerspace and sat them down. Rough pulled two large bags of popcorn out of Hammerspace and handed one to his brother. The two sat down against the chairs and ate their food, becoming addicted to the show.

The video everyone was watching got even better as soon as they watched Metal Sonic use his V. Maximum Overdrive, which shot a yellow bolt of electricity at a broken Gizoid in the background.

Yellow bolts shocked the Gizoid to life and covered Metal Sonic's view with a white light.

Dr. Eggman stroked his mustache. Dr. Starline did the same thing, trying to be like his idol.

The white light eventually cleared up and revealed Synergy's reawakening after 4,000 years of slumber. Everyone observed the Gizoid raise his head, beginning to talk to Sonic and Metal about the last thing he remembered.

"Fascinating, isn't it?" Dr. Starline asked.

"It's incredible that another Gizoid is out there," Eggman said with a chuckled. "This Gizoid will be a vital addition to my forces."

"Oh, and one more thing, my lord," Dr. Starline reached into his pocket and took out a green and silver suitcase. He held it in his right palm and opened it up with his other hand, showing the doctor something wonderful. "You're going to need these."

In the suitcase were the six remaining Chaos Emeralds; Blue, Light Blue, Purple, White, Green, and Yellow. The red one (owned by Sonic and Tails) was missing. There was no sign of that emerald much to Eggman's frustration.

"When you took over the world, I managed to find them during my travels," Dr. Starline smiled. Dr. Eggman turned and smiled at the sight of Chaos Emeralds in his line of sight. One was missing, but he figured he could get it back somehow.

The egg-shaped scientist snapped his fingers. "Orbot and Cubot, prepare the Egg Mobile at once! Rough and Tumble, you and your boss can borrow my Extreme Gears! We're off to recruit Synergy to my army whether _he likes it_ _ **or not!**_ _Mwa-hahahahahahahahahahaha!_ " _**(1)**_

* * *

The afternoon sun rose high over the Soleanna Forest Zone, one of the biggest landmarks and tourist attractions in all of Soleanna. A soft breeze blew through the sky and the sun's blazing light was ubiquitous, covering the entirety of the great wide-open field. Synergy and Big walked down the colosseum-like grassland, the latter wanted to find a good place to rest after all the action he had to endure while the former was colored impressed.

No matter where he looked, Synergy couldn't get enough of how beautiful the scenery was.

The sun was shining; the flowers blew against each other thanks to the wind, the oversized eagles that were capable of carrying people, were flying across the land.

Soleanna Forest Zone consisted of two parts. The first part was full of tall oak trees, with their network of roots everywhere. The other part (the part Synergy and Big were walking in) is the ancient castle that the royal family of Soleanna's ruler, Princess Elise, lived in until an unknown accident happened during a secret project. The latter is guarded by priests who offered trials, and the ones who complete them will be allowed access to the old castle ruins through an Eagle.

The forest was also shown to be in a mountainous area, large mountains that caught Synergy's interest. There were several caves in the inclosing mountain walls.

In both ends of the Forest, there are two doors that connect to either the Castle Town or the New City.

Big and Synergy looked up at the oak trees, seeing that the leaves were so big, they could build the roof of a wooden house if they desired to.

The former took a seat, leaning against a tall oak tree, wanting to get some rest after all the action that occurred earlier.

Synergy preferred to stand, but as he paced around back and forth, he looked at his best friend.

Feeling guilty for putting someone who has proven to be an ally to him, Synergy decided to apologize for all the chaos that happened with him and Team Sonic.

"You okay, Big?" Synergy asked.

"I'm okay, Synergy," Big replied. "I'm just resting… but I gotta ask, are you sure that was a game of tag? That almost looked like a fight."

"I will admit, that game of tag didn't go as planned," Synergy said, he continued to lie. "But I promise, as soon as we see Sonic again, I'm going to tell him to stop. He took that game too far!"

"I don't want to say you're lying, but I don't think Sonic would resort to violence during a game of tag. He knows how to play fair," Big said. "Are you sure this is a game of tag?"

"Yeah!" Synergy lied again. "I'm sure!"

"Synergy, is there something you're not telling me?"

"Uh… what do you mean?"

"You can tell me what's really going on," Big smiled. "Honesty is the best policy." _**(1s)**_

 _Honesty is the best policy?_ Synergy said in his mind. _Whoever thought of that should rethink their life choices. But I will admit, that whole 'We're playing a game of tag' thing was a little stupid. I have to come up with something better._

The Gizoid thought about his next lie before it suddenly came to him, he began speaking in a low, saddened tone. "Okay, that whole thing about Sonic and I being friends wasn't true nor was the whole Tag and Hide game, however, the fact that he found me in an abandoned temple _is_ true."

Big raised an eyebrow. "What happened?"

"I can't say much, but… the last thing I remember was spending some time with my creators and comrades in the city of Nocturne, the place I was built, located in the Mystic Ruins. Procurator Shade, Emerl, and I were helping our close ally, Nestor the Wise, with his personal errands when suddenly, a black hole appeared in the sky, sucking up the entire city. I tried to escape with my friends, but before I can get to them, an explosion shot me all the way to the vestiges of that castle I was stuck in."

Big and Froggy eyeballed each other, curious as to what the rest of this story could be.

"After a few minutes, my systems shut down, nothing but darkness was in my sight… that was until a yellow bolt of electricity charged my circuits, soon enough, I was awakened once again! The first things I see are Sonic the Hedgehog and this robot that looked just like him. The robot hedgehog leaves while Sonic comes near me, surprised by my appearance," Synergy began to tell his lie at this point. "He kindly offered me to come back with him, but I refused, nervous that this hedgehog has some bad intentions. So, I smacked his hand and left the area, unaware of what kind of world I have entered… that's why I attacked Sonic, I didn't know him so I wasn't sure if I could trust him."

"The Sonic I know would never hurt someone as long as they don't have bad intentions," Big said softly, getting up and walking over to Synergy. He placed a hand on his shoulder. "Sonic wants to make sure everyone lives in peace and all he wants is to keep everyone on Mobius safe."

Synergy felt a tiny bit guilty for lying to Big, but he wouldn't allow anyone to deter him from locating the rest of the Nocturnus Clan. He couldn't risk the chance of running into Sonic again. To play along with this whole lie, he shook Big's hand and apologized for his actions.

"Thanks, Big," Synergy said. "I apologize for attacking him. I guess I got nervous, that's all."

"You're A-okay!" Big smiled, giving the Gizoid a thumbs up. "So… what do we do now?" _**(2)**_

The Chaos/Emerl hybrid and the chubby fisherman exchanged some looks. The two of them had the perfect idea as to what they could do next.

* * *

And so, Big and Synergy have decided to spend the rest of the day getting to explore their new surroundings.

The first thing they did was head to the Castle Town and play with the Soleanna Boys, who offered them a chance to play hide and go seek with them. The two friends agreed to it because they wanted to see what it was like. Big and Synergy spend a few minutes searching high and low for the Soleanna Boys, wondering how six small children could use their ninja-like skills to hide out in a city like Soleanna.

Big ended up finding two of the children inside of a barrel while Synergy found another one… the hard way.

In other words, the boy Synergy found was spooked by the robot's appearance that he began beating the Gizoid with a random stick he found on the ground. Rather than fight back, Synergy chose to run as fast as he could, using a speed boost he copied from Sonic's biodata.

Big and the Soleanna Boys he caught cringed and squinted their eyes, watching the young lad kick Synergy in his rear end.

Once that was over, the cat and the Gizoid went on to visit a humble middle-aged man who wanted them to participate in a 100-ring challenge. The goal for this game was to collect all 100 rings that were hiding on the Castle Town's rooftops. Big and Synergy had collected the rings within a matter of seconds, however, they noticed that they only had 99 rings; the last one was missing.

They politely asked the man where the last ring was, and the man said that he didn't know. He responded to them with a smug face and shrugged shoulders.

Suddenly, the last ring fell out of the man's pocket.

Synergy and Big looked down at the last ring, then back up at the man.

The middle-aged fat guy jumped into the harbor behind him and swam away from the city, not wanting to get ratted out for what he did.

Then, Synergy and Big moved onto the New City, where they wound up meeting a mathematician who wanted to test the two friends in their knowledge of mathematics. He did this by setting up a bunch of boxes stacked in a row, each of them were labeled from numbers one through ten. He asked Big what six plus two minus three was, and Big pointed to the box that said the answer; five.

The chubby cat was correct and clapped his hands.

The mathematician then asked Synergy the next math problem; what was five plus twenty-seven plus fifty-two divided by x squared minus ninety-two times one million?

Despite being incredibly sophisticated, Synergy didn't know what the man just said. Since when were their letters in math? Where did x come from?

He pointed at two boxes; two and three, forming twenty-three. The math teacher shook his head, calling the Gizoid a dullard.

This ticked Synergy off, as he began chasing the poor man with a road sign. Big and Froggy chased after the Gizoid, preventing him from fighting again.

Finally, the last thing they did in the brink of noon was to have a race against a man who walked around town, cosplaying as Sonic the Hedgehog. His name was Sonic Man. He was impressed by the camaraderie of Synergy and Big, which made him want to race them. The cat agreed as he thought it would be fun while Synergy scratched his head. Why was there a man dressed as an animal?

Despite that question being unanswered, Synergy nodded his head, however, he refused to race as he wanted Big to have some fun.

The two racers took off as fast as they could before they reached the finish line on the other side of town, Synergy was waiting at the finish line for Big to cross. He cheered and chanted Big's name reportingly, wanting the cat to win. Froggy sat on the robot's fin.

Sonic Man was in front of Big, and was about to cross the finish line, but Big tripped over something in the road and fell right on top of Sonic Man, crushing him with all of his weight.

Everyone in the audience cringed and gasped, feeling bad for poor Sonic Man.

Big got up and carried Sonic Man over his shoulder, walking to the finish line and setting Sonic Man on his feet. Synergy walked up to the cat and patted him on the shoulder, asking if the cosplayer was okay. The weirdly dressed man nodded his head and nonchalantly gave them a thumbs up.

Right before he fell unconscious. Thankfully, he wasn't dead.

Synergy and Big shared nervous glances before the two of them started laughing; it was clear they were having a good time.

The two friends ended their day of adventure by sitting on the church tower, below the horizon. It casted a red glow over the ocean. _**(2s)**_

* * *

 _ **(3)**_ After spending hours looking for Synergy, Miles "Tails" Prower was replete with frustration because his Miles Electric died on him right before he could trace down Synergy's energy signature. Meanwhile, Sonic and Knuckles, who were walking right next to the two-tailed kit, continued searching high and low for him.

The three of them were trotting down the Soleanna Forest, specifically the first section with the old abandoned castle. They had just asked the three priests there if they have seen any sign of the blue/green Gizoid, but sadly, none of them did. So, Team Sonic has decided to continue searching the forest.

"No matter where we go, we can't seem to find him anywhere," Knuckles said. "How does one Gizoid whose colors are bright than the sun escape so easily?"

"I know he's still here," Sonic said. "We've searched all of New City and we've yet to look at the Castle Town. He's gotta be here somehow."

Sonic turned to Tails, who looked distraught that he showed off his bravery against Synergy only to lose him in the process. However, before his Miles Electric died, it did notify him that the robot was still in the area, so at least it wasn't a total loss. Still, he did feel embarrassed that he didn't think to charge his only chance of tracking down the new villain.

Tails' older brother wrapped his arm around him, giving him a smile. "Hey, Tails," he said. "What's the problem?"

"Sonic, I… I'm… I just wanted to say I'm sorry for letting my Miles Electric die like that," Tails spoke in a depressed tone. "I should have charged it before we left my house this morning."

"Tails, it's not your fault. We'll find Synergy, don't worry," Sonic smiled, giving Tails a gentle noogie. "Besides, you showed off your super cool fighting skills today! That was way past cool for me!"

"Ha-ha! Thanks!" Tails chuckled, Sonic released him from his noogie. However, Tails did want to talk to Sonic about something important. He figured now would be the best time to talk about it. "Hey, uh, Sonic… I hope now is the best time, but I have to… uh… I-I got to tell you… something."

"What is it?" Sonic raised an eyebrow.

Thinking this would be an easy topic to discuss, Tails hesitated to let out his secret. He scratched his head, curled his tails, and wiggled his ears, trying to figure out the best way to tell his best friend what he _needed_ to say. Sonic and Knuckles both looked at the kid genius, confused.

Tails tried to work up the courage to answer. "I… you… thing… well… it's uh… I want to talk about… it's about… uh… I want to talk about- "

Cutting off Tails' conversation was the voice of Amy Rose, who was flying in the skies above thanks to the help of Rouge.

Team Sonic looked up and saw not only Amy and Rouge, but Team Chaotix, Mighty, and Ray. All of them landed in front of the trio.

"Sonic!" Amy smiled. "Thank goodness; we've been looking for you."

"Yeah, I know," Sonic smirked. "That's kind of your thing."

"No! Not like that!" Amy shook her head in annoyance. "I mean I like you and I would follow you anywhere if you wanted me to, but I… _Grr!_ You know what I mean!"

"What's the matter, Ames?" Sonic chuckled. "Did I get you flustered?"

"Quiet, blue boy!"

"Mighty, Ray!" Sonic changed the subject by walking over to Mighty and Ray, Amy let out a low snarl. "Good to see you guys are back,"

Mighty wrapped his arm around Sonic's neck and held him downward, giving him noogies. "Why is that whenever you get into trouble, we always have to bail you out?" Mighty chuckled.

"H-hey! Ha-hahahahaha! L-let me go!" Sonic laughed, breaking free from Mighty's arm-lock. Ray gave Sonic a small fist-bump.

"W-we're r-r-ready to h-h-h-help," Ray smiled.

"Nice of you to show up, Rouge, I'm glad you came," Knuckles said.

"Goodness, Knuckie," Rouge grinned. "Never thought you'd be glad to see me."

"Eh, don't get used to it," Knuckles replied. "Where's Shadow?"

"He's… running a bit late, so he says," Rouge shrugged her shoulders.

"I'm sure he'll show up soon," Espio said, being an interlocutor in Knuckles and Rouge's conversation. "Have you found anything, Commander?"

"We did find Synergy earlier, but we lost him," Knuckles said. "We also lost the tracking source we had on him because Tails' Miles Electric died. How were things on your end?"

"Aside from reuniting the Resistance," Espio placed his hands together. "We haven't found anything. Are you sure Synergy is still here?"

"My tracking device said he was still here before it died," Tails said. "We've looked all over New City and we haven't found a clue."

"Not to worry, that's why Team Chaotix Detective Agency is on the case!" Vector smirked, flexing his muscles. He, Espio, and Charmy gathered together and gave the Resistance a thumbs up. "The biggest part about being a good detective is looking for clues."

Vector got on the ground like a dog and started crawling around the grass. Charmy laughed at this and decided to join in; Espio stayed on his two feet.

The Resistance followed close behind, wondering how crawling like a spider could do anything.

They were soon given their answer as soon as Vector found a clue.

"Ah-ha! A clue!" he shouted; the first clue was a long streak of footprints of two different sizes. One of them was a smaller foot and the other one was a bigger foot. The former was a muddy footprint. Vector took out a magnifying glass and analyzed the footprints. "Hmm… one to these footprints is bigger than the other, but I wonder who… what the?"

"Look over here!" Charmy said, picking up a piece of a fishing line off the grass. "It's a line!"

"A fishing line," said Espio. "Who would be fishing out in these parts?"

"Big!" Tails and Amy shouted at the same time.

"I thought I sent him home!" Tails worried.

"We have to find them ASAP!" Amy shouted.

"Right!" Sonic nodded.

"Come on, Resistance!" Vector said, leading the group down the trail of footprints. "Let's go find us the culprit!"

Everyone followed the two trails down to one of the two doors in the forest area.

They went inside, uncertain if they were walking into a trap or not. _**(3s)**_

 _ **END OF CHAPTER 10**_

* * *

 _It looks like the Resistance have located trace of Synergy. The dude has got to learn to stop leaving footprints everywhere. How dare he call himself a villain. Anyways, Synergy and Big have bonded more in this chapter, however, the Gizoid is tangling himself in a web of lies. How long can he keep this up?_

 _Find out as his lies are put to the test in "Chapter 11: True Colors: Part 1"_

* * *

 ** _POST-A/N:_**

 _Sorry if the montage style segment with Big and Synergy was poorly written. I know it's not possible to do a montage in a story (That's more for scripts and screenplays, however, I wanted to show how Big and Synergy have grown as friends aside from telling it to the reader.)_

 _Yes, those Soleanna Boys are in this. I went there._

 _I know I haven't touched on the mysterious caller lately, however, I will touch upon them soon. Knuckles will call them again next chapter. I haven't forgotten about them. ;)_

 _Little Sonamy thrown in there for all those Sonamy shippers. ;D_

 _That is all I have to say for now, my friends. Don't forget to leave a review, favorite, and a follow if you're interested. Special thanks for getting us up to ten chapters! You guys are the ones who keep me going! ;) I'm the Sensational SpiderDom321, signing off!_

 _~SD321 (SpiderDom321)_


	11. True Colors Pt 1

_**A/N:** Sorry for the delay with this chapter everyone. I was taking some time off from writing during my Winter Break, but I was also working on doing something I've been wanting to do for a while now, and that is get a FictionPress account. Yes, I now have a FictionPress account because I want to post my original content on the internet. If you're interested in my work, check out my username "The Spectacular SpiderDom" on FictionPress. That account is the proud owner of an original superhero series called "The Sensational Night Shadow." If you're interested, do check that out._

 _Special thanks to Infinite's Ruby as always for this editing my work and thanks to her for reviewing. Again, please check out The Illusionary Resistance. That story is coming to an end and it makes me sad. Also, thank you to Infinite's Ruby, TGN, SharpDragonKlaw, and Ways for their reviews._

 ** _Suggested Music:_**

 ** _(1) For True Story (Sonic vs Shadow 2) - Sonic Adventure 2 OST_**

 ** _(2) Boss Battle #1 - Kingdom Hearts 3 OST_**

 ** _(3) The Fake - Sonic Forces OST_**

 ** _(4) Boss Battle #2 - Kingdom Hearts 3 OST_**

 ** _(5) Chun-Nan (Night) - Sonic Heroes OST_**

 _Without further ado, enjoy the show!_

* * *

 **True Colors: Part 1**

Night has fallen upon the Castle Town, and Synergy and Big were planning on heading back to the Mystic Ruins for a good night sleep. The two of them were walking down the street; the latter said hello and goodnight to the people in Soleanna, almost everyone replied back. The purple cat let out a yawn as loud as a lion's roar. To which it got a chuckle out of Synergy.

"Ready to head home, Big?" Synergy asked.

"Yeah," Big finished his yawn. "I want to go home."

"Me too," Synergy said. He was going to start searching for the Nocturnus Clan when he got back to the Mystic Ruins. "Come on, buddy, let's head home."

"Can we walk around for a bit longer?" Big asked. "I want to see what this place looks like at night."

Synergy admired the bright lights coming from the buildings. It was a beautiful sight, so he figured it wouldn't hurt to walk around for a little while longer.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt," Synergy replied. _But once we get home, I'm going to put my plans into action… not to worry, Imperator Ix, I will find you._

Synergy and Big continued walking down the street, crossing the bridge that lead to the other side of the Castle Town.

As they continued their peaceful walk, they were unaware that the Resistance was watching them from a far distance. They were all hiding on top of a dark rooftop; all of them stood still just so that no one noticed them. Well, it was a little hard to be stealthy when Charmy was constantly fluttering his wings up and down, making an obnoxious noise. Vector grabbed the bee's wings and slowly lowered Charmy next to him.

Synergy and Big kept walking, unaware they were being observed.

"Is that him?" Mighty whispered to Sonic.

"Yep, that's him," the hedgehog whispered back. "Let's sick him!"

"Hold on," Amy said, putting in arm in front of Sonic; she stopped him from attacking the Gizoid. "Big's with him, we have to get him and the villagers out of here. We can't afford any casualties."

"Amy's right," Knuckles whispered in agreement. "Chaotix, Mighty, Ray, you guys get the civilians out of this area. Amy, you, Tails, and Rouge stick to the rooftops. Sonic and I will take care of Synergy. Everyone good on the plan?"

The Resistance nodded their heads.

"Excellent, move out, Resistance," Knuckles said. Rouge extended her bat wings and flew to the building across from her. Tails grabbed Amy's arms and flew to the other building next to them. Team Chaotix climbed down the side of the walls and raced towards the civilians.

"It's disguise time!" Vector snapped his fingers.

"What?" Espio raised an eyebrow.

Vector suddenly spun around in a complete three-sixty circle, miraculously putting some clothes on his body. He stopped spinning and revealed his disguise; an ice cream maker. He slapped ice cream hats on Espio, Charmy, Mighty, and Ray's heads. Espio and Mighty were confused whereas Charmy and Ray chuckled. Vector pulled out an ice cream stand from Hammerspace, attaching a sign that says _"Free Ice Cream. Only $9.50."_

"Step right up, folks! Come get a free sample!" Vector shouted. "Only $9.50!"

Sonic and Knuckles noticed the Chaotix's plan, as the watched as people ran down to their mini-stand. They were confused as to why they had to pay over nine Mobiums for a sample of ice cream, but it was ice cream so they could care less.

"That's one way of making a distraction," Sonic chuckled, looking over to Knuckles. "Right, Knux?"

Knuckles wasn't paying attention to what Sonic was saying because he was too busy with his Miles Electric. Sonic rolled his eyes and whispered the echidna's name. "Knuckles, will you get off social media and focus?"

Knuckles shushed Sonic and continued messing around with his communication device. He was trying to contact the mysterious caller from earlier once again. He tried to contact them earlier in Green Hill City, but they didn't respond. So, he figured that since Synergy was here, he would try again.

"Hey, it's me," Knuckles whispered. Sonic watched Synergy and Big stop to talk to an accordian player. "We're in Castle Town, Soleanna. The Resistance and I found Synergy. If you want to help us stop him, I would appreciate it. Also, when we catch him… I was hoping you and I would catch up some time. We haven't seen each other in a while… hope to see you soon, goodbye."

Knuckles hung up the call, paying attention to Synergy and Big; they were walking towards the large water fountain. "Sorry," he said.

"Who were you talking to?" Sonic asked.

"Just someone, you ready?" Knuckles asked.

"Let's do it to it!" Sonic replied.

Sonic and Knuckles jumped off the rooftop and landed on the ground, somersaulting towards the fountain. They crouched down and watched as Synergy and Big got closer and closer. The hedgehog looked up and saw Tails, Amy, and Rouge ready for combat.

He gave them a small wave, telling them to wait.

Without further delay, both of them jumped over the fountain and landed on the ground, scaring both Synergy and Big. The latter smiled at the sight of his friends; the former was both flabbergasted and annoyed.

Sonic and Knuckles got up from their battle poses. Knuckles clapped his fists, Sonic made a grin.

"Hey, Big. Hey, Synergy," he greeted them with a cocky smirk. "Nice to see you're enjoying your vacation!"

"Sonic!" Big smiled. "Knuckles! It's good to see you guys!"

"Not you again," Synergy snarled. "How many times must I rid of… I mean, Sonic, buddy, old pal! It's good to see you! Big and I were looking for you!"

"We were?" Big asked.

Sonic and Knuckles shared glances; the former knew the robot was a big fat liar.

"So, now you're pretending to be my buddy?" Sonic chuckled. "Drop the act, Synergy! We know what you're _really_ up to!"

"What could you possibly mean?" Synergy asked, acting like he was offended by that comment. "We were just playing a simple game of tag when _you_ decided to turn in it into a fight!"

"Yeah, Sonic, can I talk to you about that for a second?" Big asked. "Please take an easy on Synergy, he was just scared."

"Scared?" Knuckles raised an eyebrow. Tails, Rouge, and Amy shrugged shoulders and exchanged looks. "Big, what are you talking about?"

"Synergy told me Sonic found him in an old temple. Sonic tried to offer him to be his friend, but Synergy ran off because he was scared. He didn't know what was going on, so his first instinct was to take off. Sonic, please don't hurt Synergy and Synergy, please don't hurt Sonic. This has all been a big misunderstanding."

No, it wasn't. This was not a misunderstanding and Sonic knew that well. He remembered that Synergy specifically said that now that he was awakened, he would go out into the world and fulfill his plans of world domination. There was no moment in that temple where Synergy showed fear. The only fear he showed was when he was almost caught by Tails, Mighty, Ray, and Amy. Sonic looked at Knuckles and shook his head. Knuckles did the same thing.

"Big, that stuff you said never happened," Sonic said. "Synergy said he was going to take over the world, he never showed any fear. Heck, the only fear he showed was then he almost got caught by Tails and the others. I think you've been duped, my friend."

"What?" Big asked.

"How _dare_ you fill Big's head with such _lies!?_ " Synergy grunted.

"Look who's talking, liar!" Knuckles slapped his fists together. "Do you really think we're stupid? The Resistance knows you're up to no good! So, we're going to stop you before anyone else gets hurt! You've done enough damage to Soleanna today!"

"Can we talk about this, please?" Big asked. "There's no need to fight!"

"How dare you accuse me of saying even more lies?" Synergy exclaimed with mock horror. "Besides, if anyone's a liar it's Sonic, who is someday going to put even more innocent lives in danger, because he can't keep his over-inflated ego in check!"

"Now you're trying to turn the tables on me, Synergy?" Sonic rolled his eyes. "Not only are you an advanced weapon, but you're also the biggest drama queen on the planet."

"That's it, Sonic!" Synergy pointed. "I've had enough of this! You want to fight, let's fight!" _**(1)**_

"That's the best thing you've said all day!" Sonic smirked, getting into a battle pose.

"Resistance, _now!_ " Knuckles called.

Tails, Amy, and Rouge emerged from the shadows and dashed towards the Gizoid and the cat. Tails and Amy grabbed Big's hands and took off running over the bridge, escaping Synergy's sight. The Gizoid was about to give chase, but Rouge's agile reflexes prevented him from doing so; she tripped him with her foot and volley kicked him over to Sonic and Knuckles.

The blue hedgehog began to roll into a ball; the same went for the red echidna; however, Synergy was able to land on his feet and knock the two out of their ball forms with a single punch. The force of the punch knocked Sonic and Knuckles into the Chaotix's ice cream stand. Nothing but pieces of plastic from the blender and chunks of ice cream flew into the air. Some of the chunks landed on Vector's head and Mighty's shell. The two of them wiped the ice cream off them; the former ripped his disguise off his body.

"No time for selling ice cream, boys!" Vector shouted. "We're Team Chaotix! Let's go get that Gizoid!"

Mighty and Ray followed behind the three detectives as they charged into battle.

Synergy and Rouge were engaged in a fist-fight, but their battle was truncated because Espio threw a ninja star at Synergy; the silver bladed weapon flew right into Synergy's arm. The Gizoid grunted and ripped the star out of his shoulder. He swatted at the chameleon just before Vector clobbered him with his fist.

Charmy and Ray flew around Synergy's face, subduing him for Mighty. The armadillo threw a quick punch at the Gizoid, but Synergy's biodata of Sonic gave him the ability to jump over Mighty. He formed into a ball and homing attacked him, Espio, and Vector. Ray stepped up to the blue/green robot, preparing to fight just like his best friend/older brother.

"Out of the way, rodent!" Synergy slapped the squirrel across the face with the back of his hand. Ray shot across the city and landed in the water fountain. A splash of water flew into the air and landed against the ground, wetting the stone ground.

"Ray!" Mighty shouted. He ran over to his little brother in worry, helping him up on his feet. "Are you okay!?"

"I-I-I-I-I'm f-f-f-f-f-fine, Mighty," Ray said, giving his best friend a thumbs up. "S-sorry about t-t-that."

"Hey! No one does that to my new best friend!" Charmy yelled at the robot. He, Rouge, Sonic, and Knuckles were teaming up together to take down the Gizoid.

"I'll decimate all of you!" Synergy snarled. He formed into a ball and clashed against Sonic, who was also in a sphere. As both of them fought one another, they flew across the city. Hitting, bumping, and crashing into different buildings. Pieces of debris fell off the sides of some rooftops and civilians ran across the streets, fleeing like rats from a sinking ship. "Sonic the Hedgehog, you're not match for me!"

"What a classic villain line," Sonic kicked Synergy upside his face; the ancient robot did the same to him. "Next you're gonna say _'I will rule the world, and no one will stop me!'_ Ha! I love that one!"

"Do you think this is a game!?" Synergy threw a large Chaos tentacle at Sonic. The hedgehog ducked underneath the punch. "Your ego will destroy all the innocents in Mobius!"

"Says the guy who plans on taking over the world!" Knuckles caught up to the combatants. He landed an uppercut on Synergy's chin. The Gizoid registered that move and attacked Knuckles. Rouge flew in and performed one of her signature moves: Drill Drive.

She dived straight downward while twirling around in a vertical axis. Synergy looked up and scanned the move she was doing. He lunged himself forward and performed his own Drill Drive. He and Rouge collided with one another, knocking each other out of orbit.

The two of them landed on the ground, looking each other in the eyes.

Team Chaotix came onto the scene, ready for combat.

Synergy looked to his right and saw them. He then turned to the left and noticed Sonic, Knuckles, and Rouge charging for him.

"Enough of this nonsense!" Synergy jumped over the hedgehog, echidna, and bat trio, as he pressed his hands together. Diving straight into the water, he made a big splash that nearly soaked Sonic's fur. The hedgehog dodged the mini waterfall, letting out a small shout. _**(1s)**_

 _ **(2)**_ Synergy then rose above the water, transformed into his Chaos Emulation. Sonic and Knuckles gasped once they saw this. Rouge raised both of her eyebrows. Charmy gasped in worry. Espio and Vector grunted. Mighty placed his hand in front of Ray, not wanting him to step foot near whatever monster Synergy metamorphosed into.

"Out of my way!" Synergy shouted, as he boosted through the Resistance. Team Chaotix dodged the right with Knuckles and Sonic. Rouge, Mighty, and Ray dove to the left. The green crocodile grabbed onto Synergy's Chaos Tail and tried to pull him back, however, because of how fast Synergy was going, Vector was pulled off his feet.

He was stuck on Synergy's tail as the Gizoid ran down the road. He was chasing after Tails, Amy, and Big.

"Oh my goodness!" Mighty shouted. "Vector!"

"Not a very wise move on Vector's part," Rouge said.

"Come on, Resistance!" Sonic said, running ahead of the crowd. "I don't want Tails, Amy, and Big to become Chaos food!"

Sonic, Mighty, and Ray took to the ground running. Knuckles and Rouge glided over the bridge and ran across the rooftops. Espio and Charmy followed behind Sonic, Mighty, and Ray.

"Hang on, Vector!" Charmy shouted.

"What do you think I'm doing!?" Vector shouted. His gold chain rattled as he bounced up and down Synergy's tail. The monstrous Gizoid/Chaos hybrid ran on all fours like a rabid dog, catching up to Amy, Tails, and Big.

The purple cat looked over his shoulder. He and Froggy both widened their eyes with astonishment.

"Ms. Rose, Mr. Tails," he said as calm as he could, trying to keep a stable equanimity. "Something's coming behind us."

"What?" Tails and Amy said at the same time. They both turned around and saw nothing but giant green eyes staring deep into their souls.

They both screamed at the top of their lungs, as they made a sharp right down the Soleanna courtyard. More people of Soleanna jumped out of their seats and ran to the nearest shelter; the Soleanna Boys on the other hand, were preparing to square off against the Gizoid monster.

"Boys, get out of the way!" Amy called out to the six children.

"No way! We wanna help!" said the leader of the pack. "We're the Soleanna Boys! We're gonna save the- "

Synergy slammed both of his fists into the ground, creating a shock wave of rubble that knocked Tails, Amy, and Big off their toes. The Soleanna Boys gasped at this and retreated like cowards.

"Screw this, we're outta here!" the leader waved his arms in the air like a maniac.

Tails, Amy, and Big got off the ground and shook their heads; Synergy roared as loud as an angry lion and swatted at the fox and the hedgehog. The purple cat tightened his belt and kept his frog safe from another attack. He watched as Tails took out his Arm Cannon and Amy whipped out her Piko Piko Hammer.

The former shot out ten shots of yellow electric orbs whereas Amy twirled her hammer in a horizontal direction, creating a pink tornado that stunned Synergy's face. The Gizoid slammed the ground again, creating a crater in the ground. Vector flew upward and landed on Synergy's head, carely touching the robot's frontal fins.

It didn't take long for the rest of the Resistance to show up and join the fight. Big was debating whether he should join the fight or stay behind and watch. His decision was easy since he knew the Resistance a lot longer than Synergy. He nodded his head and ran forward.

"Synergy, calm down!" Big shouted, avoiding an attack from Synergy that wasn't meant for him. "Please, no more fighting!"

Synergy couldn't respond right away because Tails, Sonic, Amy, and Knuckles homing attacked him at the same time. Rouge threw a few heart-shaped grenades at the Gizoid's chest; all of them blew up one at a time. Smoke spewed all over the Gizoid's face, giving the Chaotix a chance to give the Gizoid a concert.

Espio strummed a shamisen with his dagger while Charmy mashed the drum. As his teammates played their instruments out of tune, Vector "sang" into a microphone. His voice was so loud, the rest of the Resistance covered their ears. How could anyone listen to something as horrible as that?

The Chaotix played one last note before blasting a huge rainbow-colored shock wave at the Gizoid. Synergy roared in agony and frustration; he was tired of this fight and wanted it to end right away. He slammed his hands against the ground, creating a tidal wave of water that blew the Resistance across the courtyard. Even Big was affected by that attack.

Every member of the Resistance tumbled across the ground; each of them landed on either their stomach or their side.

Knuckles coughed up a puddle of water, as he observed Synergy creeping towards him and his teammates.

"Now would be a good time for her to show up," Knuckles mumbled to himself, referring to the mysterious caller. _**(2s)**_

But as if the angels from Heaven were heeding his call, a voice yelled at the monster from a distance. Only it wasn't a female like Knuckles had hoped for; it was a male. _**(3)**_

"Chaos Spear!" Shadow the Hedgehog shouted, as he launched three golden spears at the Gizoid's eyes, blinding him with rays of energy. The Ultimate Life Form skidded across the ground, shooting more spears at the beast. Shadow dodged an attack from Synergy and homing attacked his left eye.

Synergy roared and covered his eye; now he was aggravated.

Sonic leaned upward and shook his head once he saw Shadow's face. "You sure took your time to get here," he smirked. The rest of the Resistance got up on their feet.

"I had a bit of a problem," Shadow replied, cracking his fingers.

"What problem would that be?" Rouge asked.

"Her," Shadow pointed. _**(3s)**_

Whisper the Wolf, who followed Shadow from White Park to here, jumped off a building and landed right in front of the Resistance. She placed down her white mask and aimed her Variable Wispon at Shadow's chest. Shadow took out two Chaos Spears, ready to square off against the grey wolf.

"Who's this chick!?" Vector asked.

"How many of these new characters are there!?" Mighty shouted into the air, confused as to how there were so many people Sonic has met during his life.

" _My name is Whisper,"_ the grey and biscotti-colored wolf said. She cocked her weapon and activated Rocket Mode.

"Hold on a second," Shadow snarled. "Can't you see we're in the middle of-Look out!" _**(4)**_

Synergy raised both of his hands in the air, forming them into fists. Whisper turned around only to see two fists dive bombing towards her. She gasped and tried to turn her Wispon into another mode, but Shadow stepped in and pushed her out of the way. The rest of the Resistance moved out the way.

Team Sonic homed in on Synergy's head. Team Chaotix gave another recital. Amy and Rouge worked together to hit heart grenades onto certain spots of Synergy's body. They all exploded at once. Mighty and Ray attacked the Gizoid with all their might.

Shadow and Whisper landed on the ground; the latter was laying on her back; the former was on top of her chest. He got off her and let out a few pants. Whisper's mask fell off her face, she still had her eyes closed, but she was shocked to know that Shadow the Hedgehog risked his life to save her's. She gasped lightly, as the black hedgehog shot a Chaos Spear at the Gizoid.

He offered her his hand.

Whisper looked at the black hedgehog's white glove for a few seconds. She was hesitant to grab it, but she was thankful that Shadow prevented her from getting turned into a pancake.

She took his hand and he helped her up.

"I know you don't like me, I'm not sure why, but know this," Shadow said. "If you do not believe my words, believe in my actions."

Shadow raced off into battle, joining Rouge for a team attack. He grabbed the bat's arms and she flew him up into the air. She then Thunder Shot him right into Synergy's face.

The Gizoid smacked the two of them to the side.

Amy slammed Synergy's hand with her hammer, Tails shot another electric orb, Synergy smacked both of them with his hand. Sonic ran up and caught both his friends as they flew in the air, running beneath another Chaos claw. Knuckles jumped up and dug his fists into Synergy's chest. He and Mighty worked together to put the Gizoid in his place. Eventually, the two of them jumped into the air.

Knuckles grabbed the armadillo's hands, spun him around in a circle, and chucked him right at the creature's forehead. Mighty curled into his shell.

"Go get him!" Knuckles shouted.

Mighty slammed right into Synergy's forehead; a red shock wave shot across the courtyard.

Sonic and Tails performed a Rolling Combo into Synergy's chest, but the Gizoid grabbed them and chucked them right into Charmy and Vector.

Espio threw multiple ninja stars into Synergy's face before he was smacked across the face by a claw. As he flew through the air, Ray glided after him and wrapped his tail around his arm, saving his life.

"Thank you, Ray," Espio smiled.

"Y-you're w-w-welcome," Ray smiled, giving a thumbs up.

Ray and Espio landed near Mighty, Rouge, and Amy.

Synergy roared again before he suddenly grew not one, not two, but six Chaos tentacles on his back. He slammed his hands on the ground and extended his new arms. Mighty and Ray pushed Espio, Amy, and Rouge out of the way before they were suddenly grabbed by the Chaos arms.

"M-M-Mighty!" Ray squealed.

"Hang on, buddy!" Mighty shouted.

Synergy opened up his Chaos mouth and did the unspeakable.

"He ate Mighty and Ray!" Sonic, Knuckles, and the Chaotix shouted all at once. It was true, Mighty and Ray were stuck inside of the robot's stomach.

Shadow, Rouge, Amy, and Tails regrouped with the Resistance; all of them were shocked that Mighty and Ray were eaten by Synergy. Big joined alongside them as well.

However, they saw that the armadillo and the flying-squirrel were not killed. They could be seen inside Synergy's translucent stomach; the both of them were slamming against the monster's stomach, they were stuck in a watery pool inside.

The Resistance charged at the Gizoid again, ready to save their friends.

Whisper jumped on top of a building, looking back at the fight between the Resistance and Synergy. She lowered her one-eyed mask and observed the selflessness of Shadow; the black hedgehog was working to save the armadillo and the squirrel.

* * *

Dr. Eggman, Orbot, and Cubot were watching the fight above the skies in the Egg Mobile while Dr. Starline, Rough, and Tumble were riding on some of Dr. Eggman's Extreme Gears. Starline was riding on Dr. Eggman's Bike Type while Rough and Tumble were riding on normal hoverboards. They watched as Sonic and Shadow double-boosted into the Gizoid's face, only to see the Gizoid slam both of them into the ground.

Tails and Knuckles went for Synergy's chest while Amy, Shadow, and Rouge shot projectiles. Amy with her pink tornadoes, Shadow with his Chaos Spears, and Rouge with her heart grenades. Charmy Thunder Shot Espio and Vector into the monster's chest.

"Such astonishment!" Dr. Eggman said, as he watched Sonic get pummeled into a wall. "It's hard to believe a Gizoid like _that_ holds such power! No wonder why Metal Sonic wanted me to find him!"

"Speaking of which, where is Metal Sonic?" Orbot asked.

"He's being upgraded back home," Dr. Eggman replied. "Let's just say he's waiting to show Sonic what he's made of."

"I told you this robot was fascinating," Dr. Starline smiled at his idol. Behind him, Rough and Tumbl were having trouble adjusting to their hoverboards. Rough's legs shook and his knees buckled, as he nearly fell off the side of his royal blue Extreme Gear. Tumble laughed at his brother's clumsiness before the blue skunk kicked the white skunk off the board. Tumble yelled into the air before he grabbed on his board. Grunting at Rough, he swatted at him, but he missed.

Starline rolled his eyes at the two dullards before he turned to Eggman. "This is the perfect opportunity to launch an offensive, Doctor,"

"Yeah! And you should attack too!" Cubot suggested.

"No!" Dr. Eggman replied. "If we attack now, Sonic and the Resistance will overpower us. I need to find the right time, wait for just the right moment."

"Ah, do nothing at all," Orbot said sarcastically. "It's _that_ kind of evil scheme that keeps you feared around the globe." _**(4s)**_

* * *

 _ **(5)**_ Finding Sonic was a lot easier than done. Well, that's what G-merl was thinking as he walked through the mountains of the Mystic Ruins. It was in the dark of night, nothing but black sky blanketed over the overgrown, swampy forest. The only lights that illuminated the sky were the countless amounts of stars that shined on the black and yellow Gizoid. He told himself that if he had a mouth, he'd smile straight at the stars.

He, Cream, Cheese, and Blaze have been searching the Mystic Ruins for more than a few hours. The rabbit and the robot were hoping to tell Sonic and Tails about the dream/flashback the latter had last night while the lavender cat princess hoped to tell the hedgehog about the calamity that will soon affect his world. But in the meantime, she enjoyed the Mystic Ruins, a place she's never been to before, in the night time. Cream and Cheese were enjoying the view as well. It really was a beautiful sight.

But despite how gorgeous the scenery was, it was still night time, meaning it was time for Cream and Cheese to go to bed. The rabbit yawned, making a sound that resembled a bear; the Chao did the same thing.

Blaze heard the yawn and let out a small chuckle. "Tired, Cream?"

"No," Cream replied, trying to stay awake. "I'm fine, I'm totally not tired."

"Then what was that noise?" G-merl joked with her.

"Um… it was a small bear," Cream smiled awkwardly. She was terrible at lying.

"Nice try, kiddo," G-merl picked her up and tossed her in the air. He caught her and continued tossing her in a vertical axis. "You're a terrible liar. That cheeky smile gives it away."

"He-he," Cream giggled, as G-merl kept tossing her upward. "G-merl! He-hehehehehe! Do it again! This is fun!"

Blaze watched as the sibling-like duo played around with each other. Not only did she smile, but she felt more guilty for mistaking G-merl as an Eggman robot. Her smile turned into a frown. G-merl sat Cream on his shoulders, laughing and chuckling at her antics. The two of them stopped laughing once they saw the frown on Blaze's face.

"Miss Blaze, are you okay?" Cream asked in concern. "Did we do something to upset you?"

"Wait, don't tell me you still think I'm going to hurt Cream, do you?" G-merl asked.

Blaze hesitated, shifting her weight from foot to foot. "I want to apologize to the both of you for my actions earlier. Cream, I scared you when I attacked G-merl. Speaking of which, I want to apologize for inappropriately judging you, G-merl."

"Didn't we settle this earlier?" G-merl inquired. "I said it's fine,"

"Yes, but when you said that you were used to it, it made me feel more guilty for attacking you." Blaze said.

G-merl and Cream exchanged a quick glance, feeling bad that Blaze feels this way.

"Look, when I said that," G-merl began. "I didn't mean to make you feel bad about yourself. I was just… just… through most of my life, I have been misjudged by others based on my appearance as well as my origins."

"Origins? What do you mean?" Blaze inquired.

"Couple years ago, Dr. Eggman split Mobius apart using Chaos Control, separating Sonic and Tails from Knuckles, Amy, and Cream. The two went on to search for the Chaos Emeralds, but during their journey, Dr. Eggman, who made me from the data of an old robot called Emerl, sent me to kill them while he would proceed with his plan. When Sonic and Eggman took the final battle to Angel Island, I used the Chaos Emeralds to access my Ultimate Form, betraying Eggman in the process."

Blaze nodded her head, easily registering what G-merl just spewed out.

"Before I could destroy Mobius as we know it, Super Sonic and Dr. Eggman defeated me and I fell into the ocean. Eventually, I washed up to shore where Tails and Cream were able to find me. They took me into the former's workshop and fixed me up," G-merl said. "It was hard to believe I got a second chance."

"I'm glad we fixed you, G-merl!" Cream hugged the Gizoid, wrapping her arms around his neck. "You're like a big brother! And Blaze is like my big sister!"

Blaze smiled once she heard that.

"Ha-ha! Thanks, kiddo!" G-merl patted the rabbit on the head. "So, yeah. That's pretty much it in terms of my origins. Ever since I was re-built into who I am today, I haven't gone out in public to fight alongside Sonic and the others. Well, I did fight Mecha Sonic and a swarm of Badniks two days ago, but other than that, I don't get out that much. Not since… this happened," _**(5s)**_

* * *

 _~Flashback_

 _Cream the Rabbit and G-merl were walking down the fields of Neo Green Hill Zone, they were in the middle of picking up flowers for Vanilla's garden. But as soon as they stepped foot into the Green/Emerald Hill hybrid, they noticed that they weren't the only ones in the area._

 _Many humans and Mobians were picking flowers as well. As Cream kneeled down to pick up some flowers, she heard a scream come from a baby dragon. The toddler screamed and pointed at the sight of G-merl; her parents looked up and joined in the screaming._

 _Soon enough, everyone turned around and saw the sight of the Gizoid. Confused, G-merl politely waved._

" _Hi," he said._

" _Everybody run!" shouted a human male. "Eggman robot!"_

" _Grab my baby!" shouted a lady walrus._

" _Get him!" shouted a brave human female. She picked up some dirt and chucked it right at the Gizoid. G-merl dodged to the side, watching the dirt land in the water behind him. Cream gasped, cupping her hands together. She got up on her feet and spoke to the civilians throwing dirt at G-merl._

" _Excuse me," she said. "Please stop throwing dirt at my friend. It's not nice!"_

" _That robot's hurting that girl!" shouted a female badger. "Get him out of here!"_

 _As the people threw more dirt at the robot, Cream got angry at the people for being so selfish, not caring that they were getting dirt on her and Cheese. She grabbed the flowers as well as G-merl's hand. The two of them took off running._

" _It's not fair!" she shouted, sobbing as she ran. "You're all so mean!"_

 _G-merl lowered his head in shame._

 _~End of Flashback_

* * *

"That's horrible," Blaze said, pressing her hand against her heart. "How can you take that so lightly?"

"They were very mean," Cream said, her voice went from happy to sad. "Neo Green Hill Zone was one of my favorite places to go, but now, I don't like it anymore."

"Don't let what happened back then change your mind about that place, Cream," G-merl said. "While the people there viewed me as a villain, I am proud that you stood up for me. That is what I appreciate the most."

"Of course," Cream smiled, hugging the Gizoid. "I'll always protect you, no matter what."

Blaze smiled and prepared to tell the two of them the story of how she herself, was misjudged, but she was interrupted because she, Cream, and G-merl heard something in the far distance.

It was the sound of a tree breaking.

"Whoa! Help me!" shouted an old, elderly voice. The tree's cracking got louder until it finally made a loud crashing sound. G-merl, Cream, and Blaze glanced at one another before they ran through the forest. Eventually, they came across someone who was trapped underneath a tree.

The person was a heavyset anthropomorphic goat with gray fur, pink skin, and blue eyes. He possessed thick eyebrows with dark grey fur around his eyes, a wide black nose, and dark gray horns that curved to the side and back. He also had extra long fur beneath his chin, looking like a beard, and medium-long sideways ears.

For attire, the elder goat wore a purple sweater, a green jacket, fingerless black gloves, and black shoes with golden buckles on them. His wooden cane was laying right next to him.

"Help, please!" he shouted. "Is anyone there!?"

"Hang on, sir!" Blaze called. She, G-merl, and Cream ran down the hill and approached the man. "Are you all right?"

"I'll be okay," said the goat. "It's just a slight bump; that's all."

"You call _that_ a bump?" G-merl asked. He placed Cream down on the ground.

"Don't worry, sir, we'll help you!" Cream kindly bowed.

Cream wrapped her hands around the goat's fingers, G-merl and Blaze raced over to both ends of the tree. On the count of three, the robot and the cat lifted the tree upward with all of their strength; the rabbit and the Chao softly pulled the goat away from the tree. Setting it down, G-merl and Blaze jumped down and regrouped with Cream and Cheese.

"Chao, Chao!" Cheese smiled.

"Thank you, my friends, I apologize for that small accident," said the goat. He got up and brushed off his clothes. He adjusted his sweater and green jacket.

"You're welcome," G-merl replied. "What are you doing out here so late? Shouldn't you be in bed?"

"I was gathering some firewood for my village," said the goat. "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Elder Scruffy; head of Windmill Village. Some of the kids were having a camp out, but they were too scared to travel into the forest to get wood. So, I offered to go get it for them. Little did I know, I would make a nature very angry."

"I don't think Mother Nature makes trees attack peaceful villagers," G-merl chuckled. "My name's G-merl. This is my best friend, Cream the Rabbit. This little booger here is Cheese, and the cat's name is Blaze. She's a princess from another dimension."

"I am pleased to meet you all," Elder Scruffy bowed, grabbing his cane off the ground. "If you don't mind me asking, what are you three doing out here? Going camping?"

"I wish," Blaze replied. "We're looking for our friends. We have to tell them something important, but we can't find them anywhere."

"Ah, I see," Elder Scruffy stroked his bushy gray beard. "Well, you won't find him at this time of night. You all look like you need some rest. Come, I'll take you back to my village, you can rest up there."

"R-really?" Cream smiled. "Thank you!"

"You're very welcome, Miss Cream," Elder Scruffy guided them down the forest. "Follow me, my friends. It's right this way."

The five travelers began walking down the forest. Blaze. G-merl, and Cream had no idea what may await them, but Elder Scruffy looked like he meant well. They continued down the road, hoping to reach Windmill Village in one peace.

 _ **END OF CHAPTER 11**_

* * *

 _Looks like Blaze, G-merl, and Cream have made a new friend in Elder Scruffy, however, Sonic and his friends are still fighting against a powerful Synergy. Will they make it out alive and defeat their new foe, or will they fall under his soon to be dictatorship?_

 _Find out in "Chapter 12: True Colors: Part 2."_

* * *

 ** _POST-A/N:_**

 _I had a lot of fun making the scene where the Resistance fought against Chaos Synergy. That entire fight was inspired by the boss battles in Kingdom Hearts. My best friend and I have just played the first 20-30 minutes of Kingdom Hearts 3. It's a fantastic game so far and I cannot wait to play the rest of the game. That move where Knuckles chucked Mighty into Synergy was inspired by a move in KH3 where Sora chucks Goofy into the ground. I forget what the name itself is called._

 _Neo Green Hill Zone is the first level of a Sonic game called Sonic Pocket Adventure. I was going to use a different zone, but I ended up finding a picture of it on complete accident. It's a hybrid of Green Hill and Emerald Hill. Never played SPA, but The Great Clement on YouTube says it's pretty good._

 _You that one goat from IDW Sonic the Hedgehog Issue #5, the one who told Sonic that Dr. Eggman lost his memory and became Mr. Tinker? Yeah, he has a name. Him and the village have names in IDW Sonic Issue #13. His name is Elder Scruffy and the village he lives in is called Windmill Village. Never thought we'd get a name for him._

 _Mighty and Ray getting "eaten" by Synergy does not mean that I have a dislike for them. I did that because Synergy needed to get rid of the strongest member and the weakest member. Just in case anyone thought that._

 _As always, don't forget to leave your thoughts down below. I'm The Sensational SpiderDom321 and I'll see you next time!_

 _~SD321 (SpiderDom321)_


	12. True Colors Pt 2

_**A/N:** I know I just updated this story yesterday, but I felt the need to put this chapter out here the next day because this part of the chapter was supposed to be part of the last one, but I split it into two parts because this part would have dragged out Chapter 11. I figured having two parts would make this a bit better. So, with that being said, today, we find out the poll result regarding Big and Synergy's friendship. Let's look at the results, shall we? (Special thanks to Infinite's Ruby, TGN, and SharpDragonKlaw for their feedback and for **60 reviews!** And thanks to mythicalpalkia for adding this tale to their favorite stories!)_

 _Poll Results:_

 _Choice #1: Big finds out Synergy is evil on his own - 4 votes_

 _Choice #2: Synergy finds out Big was part of the events of Sonic Chronicles - 3 votes_

 _Choice #3: Dr. Eggman breaks them apart - 2 votes_

 _Choice #4: They get into a random argument - 2 votes_

 ** _Suggested Music:_**

 ** _(1) Death Egg Robot Phase 2 - Sonic Forces OST_**

 ** _(2) Boss Battle #3 - Kingdom Hearts 3 OST_**

 ** _(3) Justice (Park Avenue) - Sonic Forces OST_**

 ** _(4) Fist Bump - Sonic Forces OST or Fist Bump by NateWantsToBattle_**

 ** _(5) Gaul (Well of Souls) - The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night OST_**

* * *

 **True Colors: Part 2**

"Everyone, get out of the way!" Tails shouted to the Resistance. Everyone was still fighting against Synergy in his Chaos Emulation, and they were not making as much progress as they wanted. What they hoped would be a simple ambush ended up turning into a town invasion. "Watch out!" _**(1)**_

Synergy slammed his tentacles against the ground, smacking Sonic, Amy, and Shadow around like chew toys. Espio freed his friends from their capture by slicing the tentacles in half with his dagger. Sonic, Amy, and Shadow fell on the ground, soak and wet. All three hedgehogs shook themselves dry, as they raced forward to regroup with the Resistance. Espio dodged another attack from the Gizoid and grabbed Charmy's arms. The six-year-old bee flew around the monster, avoiding a streak of swats and punches.

The bee spun the ninja around and lunged him right on top of Synergy's head.

Espio climbed on the Gizoid's fins, looking for a way to access the mouth so he can rescue Mighty and Ray. The two of them were trapped in Synergy's stomach and they were striving to get out of there as soon as possible.

"Chaos Spear!" Shadow shouted, shooting an armada of Chaos Spears at Synergy's chest, trying to free Mighty and Ray.

"So much for an easy ambush, Knuckles," Sonic said, jumping over another tentacle. Knuckles was about to punch the Gizoid's chest, but he was instantly smacked right into Sonic's chest. The two of them get off of each other and stood up on their feet.

"Okay, so the plan had holes," Knuckles said. He and Sonic watched as Tails and Amy fired a team attack. The latter gently grabbed the former by his twin tails and spun him around in a complete circle. As he spun around, Tails shot projectiles at Synergy, but they had little to no effect. The Gizoid slammed his hand on the ground; both Freedom Fighters dodged. Amy proceeded to go on a fighting spree with her hammer; swinging it in every direction possible. Tails followed close behind and did the same with his Arm Cannon, which turned into a wrecking ball.

"You got any better ideas, Knucklehead?" Sonic asked. He and Knuckles ran alongside Rouge and Charmy.

"Yeah, I'm thinking of one!" Knuckles replied. He and Sonic jumped on Synergy's chest and began to penetrate through, getting closer to Mighty and Ray.

Unfortunately, Synergy grabbed the two of them and held them in the air. Rouge threw grenades at him and Charmy stung him in his arm; both counterattacks had no effect.

"Sonic the Hedgehog, Knuckles the Echidna," Synergy scowled, opening up his mouth. He slowly lowered the heroes near his trap hole. "Time to meet your maker!"

Suddenly Big the Cat threw the end of his fishing rod into Synergy's mouth. The tip flowed down until it reached Mighty and Ray. The flying-squirrel tapped the armadillo on the shoulder, pointing to the end of the rod.

"Mighty, Ray!" Big called out. Froggy jumped up and down on the cat's shoulder. "Grab on!"

"Big!" Synergy growled. "What are you doing!?"

"Hurry!" Big shouted.

Mighty and Ray grabbed the pole. Big yanked the two of them out of Synergy's mouth. As they flew into the air. Mighty slammed his shell into Synergy's left hand, rescuing Knuckles. Ray flew in and homing attacked the right hand, freeing Sonic.

The four of them landed near Big, thanking him for his help.

"Thank you, sir," Mighty saluted. "I never want to go through _that_ again."

"You're welcome," Big smiled.

Synergy hollered, waving his arms around like a maniac. He slowly began to crawl towards the regrouped Resistance. All of the turned around and began running across the city, splitting up in the process.

Sonic, Tails, Amy, and Big ran across the ground. Shadow, Rouge, Mighty, Ray, and the Chaotix took to the rooftops. Knuckles and Rouge took to the skies. _**(1s)**_

Synergy ran on all fours again, chasing the Resistance. _**(2)**_

"What's the plan?" Tails asked his older brother.

"This!" Sonic replied with a worried tone.

" _This_ is the plan!?" Tails asked again, trying to go faster.

"Yep!" Sonic nodded.

"This plan sucks!"

"I know!"

As Knuckles and Rouge glided through the starry night sky, the noticed that everybody on the rooftops dropped down to Sonic's level. Everyone was running as fast as they could. The bat turned to the echidna and shook her head.

"Got any plans, Knuckie?" Rouge asked.

"I don't know, this is kind of a first for me," Knuckles replied.

"That's a funny way of saying _'Duh, I don't know,'_ " Rouge mocked the Commander's voice.

"Oh, shut up!" Knuckles snarled.

As the two squabbled over the plan, Sonic and the others were still running for their lives. Synergy, tired of playing this ridiculous game, jumped over the Resistance and landed right in front of them. He turned around and swatted at all of them. Everyone dodged his massive hand and stopped dead in their tracks. Knuckles and Rouge landed beside them, not wanting their team to fight Synergy by themselves.

The robotic beast crawled up to the heroes, opening his mouth, showing off his razor-sharp teeth.

Mighty, Knuckles, and Sonic clenched their fists. Tails cocked his Arm Cannon. Amy stood in front of Big; her Piko Piko Hammer was welded to her hands, Team Chaotix huddled beside Mighty and Ray, Shadow and Rouge eyeballed one another; they looked like they knew something good would come out of this.

As Synergy got closer and closer to them, he was caught off guard by an ambush. _**(2s)**_

 _ **(3)**_ Whisper the Wolf, who decided to help the Resistance in their fight, shot an orange rocket at the Gizoid's eye, blinding him with a fiery explosion and thick smoke. Whisper landed in front of the Sonic Heroes, re-loading her Variable Wispon.

"Took her long enough to join us," Vector rolled his eyes. "All we need is Silver and we'll win this for sure."

"Should we help her?" Espio asked.

"Hold on," Shadow said, placing a hand on Espio's shoulder. "I want to see how this goes."

Whisper cracked her fingers, grabbing her Wispon.

Synergy raised his tentacles and slammed them into the stone ground.

The grey-furred wolf dodged from the left to the right, evading all of Synergy's attacks with ease. She slid underneath another tentacle and shot Synergy's left arm with another orange rocket. As the Gizoid moaned in pain, Whisper activated her Hover Mode and flew up to the robot's face. Synergy's green eyes locked onto the masked wolf. He screamed at her and lifted his right hand, forming a fist. He landed a punch towards her, but Whisper's agile reflexes allowed her to avoid getting hit. She landed on top of the hand and changed her Wispon to Cube Mode.

She slammed her hammer right in the center of his forehead.

"Holy shoot, look at her go!" Amy said, amazed by Whisper's fighting style.

Whisper jumped and grabbed the tip of Synergy's fin, slamming his head with her translucent blue hammer.

"Well, you do have a lot of fan girls, Shadow?" Sonic smirked. "How did you meet her?"

"Long story," Shadow replied. "But one thing's for certain, she is _not_ what you call a _'fan girl.'_ "

Whisper jumped down and ran away from the Gizoid, as the robot placed both of his hands against the ground. He was trying to re-calibrate his systems back to the way they were because Whisper damaged some of his systems.

"Stupid rodent!" he snarled. _**(3s)**_

"Okay, Resistance," Amy smiled, gathering everyone together for a team huddle. "Huddle up!"

Every member of the Resistance (except Whisper) gathered together for a team meeting, placing their hands on each other's shoulders. All of them had smiles on their faces. Well, Shadow didn't have a smile on his face because that wasn't his thing.

"This our chance to settle this once and for all," Amy looked at her teammates with a determined smile. "Chaotix, Mighty, Ray, give Synergy the biggest concert you've ever performed! Shadow, Rouge, you two team up with Whisper to distract him. Big and I will pin him down, and Knuckles will join Sonic and Tails in finishing the final blow! Everyone, got it?"

Whisper raised an eyebrow once she heard the part where she had to join forces with Shadow and Rouge.

"Watch out, Knux," Sonic chuckled. "Amy just stole your thunder."

Knuckles snarled at Sonic when he made that snarky remark.

"I said _everyone, got it!?_ " Amy repeated herself.

"Yes, Ma'am!" everyone, except Shadow, replied.

"Move out!" Amy clapped her hands, breaking away from her team circle. The Resistance gathered together to initiate their plan.

Synergy recovered from his temporary rest and faced the Resistance with an evil glare. "Do you all think you can stop me!?" he shouted. "I will tear all of you limb from limb!"

"You should feel ashamed for lying to Big!" Amy hollered. "How could you do that to someone like him!?"

"Synergy, you lied to me?" Big asked.

"Of course I did, you dolt!" Synergy replied with an angry howl. "It's not hard to believe you felt for every single lie I've been telling you. No wonder why you don't have any real friends!"

The purple cat's heart shattered when he heard Synergy say that about him. Big may not be as outgoing as Sonic the Hedgehog, but he knew for a fact that he had real friends in Amy Rose and Cream the Rabbit. But still, he _did_ believe that Synergy was a true friend. He felt ashamed for being so oblivious to the villain's true motives. He lowered his head and let out a low sigh; a small tear dripped down his cheek.

"You insensitive piece of scrap!" Amy whispered in the darkest tone her voice could go. " _ **RESISTANCE, CHARGE!**_ " _**(4)**_

Espio, Vector, and Charmy got out their respective materials needed for their Chaotix Recital. The Ninja Detective strummed his shamisen, the Heroic Youngster slammed his drumsticks against his drum, and the Rock Croc shouted into the microphone alongside the Brothers At Heart (Mighty and Ray. All of them played so loud that Synergy's eyes began to glitch; he found it hard to register all of this music into his biodata.

"Good evening, Soleanna!" Ray shouted into the mic, smiling. "W-w-we're gonna r-r-rock you like i-i-i-it's 1998!"

"There you go, kid!" Vector smiled, patting Ray's head. "Now, you're gettin' it!"

The Gentle Titan smiled once he saw Vector rub Ray's head; he was proud that his little brother was warming up to the three detectives.

As they jammed out, it was Shadow, Rouge, and Whisper's turn to strike back.

The Silent Sniper fired an armada of cyan lasers and orange rockets, the Ultimate Life Form used his Chaos Blast technique to launch a streak of orange/yellow energy at Synergy's face, the Super-Spy chucked multiple grenades at the Gizoid's chest.

Three huge explosions blinded the Gizoid with fire and puffs of smoke.

Big took out his fishing rod and allowed Amy to grab the end of it. The Gentle Titan swung the Piko Hammer Hero around like a wrecking ball, launching her into the Gizoid's head. She slammed her hammer between his eyes before homing attacking him three times. She landed on the ground and waited for Big's part of the attack. The purple cat jumped in the air and formed into a ball. Amy whacked the cat's rear end with her hammer and sent him flying like a bat hitting a baseball.

The Gizoid threw some punches at the cat, but he couldn't hit him.

Big body-slammed in Synergy's forehead.

"You fat dullard!" Synergy snarled. "You _dare_ betray me!?"

"No, you were the one who betrayed my trust," Big said calmly. "I took you in, gave you a home, and taught you how to fish. I stopped you from self-harm and listened to your problems. You chose to repay my kindness… by lying to me and hurting my _real_ friends."

"It doesn't matter," Synergy chuckled, he smirked. "You will all bow before my dictatorship!"

"Wow, that's what every diabolical supervillain says," Sonic smirked. "You're gonna pay for betraying Big's trust!"

Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles gathered together and prepared to finish the final blow. But first, the remaining members of the Resistance grabbed onto Synergy's arms, pulling down with every ounce of their strength. The Chaos Emulated Gizoid struggled to get free, but before he could think of his next tactic, Team Sonic put their plan in motion.

Knuckles grabbed Tails' feet; the fox was also holding Sonic's feet. All three heroes spun around to gain momentum. After spinning around more times than they could count, Knuckles released Tails, who then kicked Sonic into air, as the blue blur was surrounded by a red aura.

"Blast away!" Sonic shouted. He unleashed a massive Light Speed Dash Attack, causing him to zoom around in the air at astounding speeds while striking every part of Synergy's body. Once he did this, the Gizoid de-transformed back into his normal form. He fell onto the ground, landing on his back; smoke and steam spewed off his body. _**(4s)**_

Sonic landed on the ground as well, regrouping with the rest of the Resistance.

Everyone started walking towards Synergy, preparing to arrest him.

Synergy leaned upward, getting back on his feet. "This… changes nothing. Once I find the Nocturnus Clan, you will all be destroyed!"

"Don't you get it, dude?" Sonic said. "They're gone! Vanished! History! I fought them a while back, they're all sealed in the Twilight Cage!"

"Give it up, creep!" Amy said. "You've lost!"

 _ **FLASH!**_

Synergy and the Resistance were suddenly blinded by not one, not two, but seven searchlights. The roaring of helicopter wings broke the silence of the Resistance's victory. Everyone covered their eyes because of how bright the lights were, Rouge and Shadow were the only ones who knew where these spotlights were coming from. Soon enough, the Resistance and Synergy opened their eyes and saw the helicopters circling around them. Seven ladders draped from the top and landed against the street.

They were all G.U.N. helicopters.

Several agents wearing G.U.N. uniforms dropped from the ladders, landing on the ground, aiming their guns at Synergy.

Behind the Gizoid and the Resistance, G.U.N trucks and robots ran up to the former, pushing the Resistance to the side. All of the GUN Hunters, Mono Beatles, Gold Beatles, and other GUN robots aimed their weapons at the Gizoid, surrounding him.

Suddenly, GUN's commander: Abraham Tower stepped out of a jeep, walking past the Resistance as if they weren't there at all. The only people he focused on were Shadow and Rouge.

"Agent Shadow, Agent Rouge," Commander Tower saluted the two agents. "Thanks for rounding him up for us,"

"You called G.U.N?" Knuckles asked.

"I knew it! You _were_ spying on us!" Amy pointed at Rouge and Shadow.

"You say that like it's a bad thing, honey," Rouge smirked.

Commander Tower reached into Hammerspace and pulled out a small bullhorn, shouting at Synergy. "Stand down, you piece of scrap! We have your surrounded! Come quietly or there will be trouble!"

"You stole that line from a movie!" Charmy yelled at Commander Tower.

"Surrender now or we will open fire!" Commander Tower shouted. _**(5)**_

Synergy didn't respond to the Commander's order. Instead, he extended a Chaos Claw forward and ripped a GUN robot into pieces. Nothing but scrap metal fell onto the ground. With the order from their commander, GUN soldiers fired at will.

Bullets flew through the air and explosions from missiles lit up the city as if they were fireworks shooting up to the sky. Synergy resisted the bullets by forming a water shield around him. He lunged forward and homed in on several GUN agents, wiping them out with ease.

"No!" Commander Tower shouted. He reached into his jacket and pulled out his gun. Shooting bullets at the robot, he realized he wasn't doing any damage to him. Synergy ran up to the commander and knocked him down with a single roundhouse kick.

Knuckles and the Resistance ran towards the Gizoid, ready to strike, but Synergy wiped them all out with a single tidal wave. Sonic and Shadow were the only ones to make it over the wave, and they landed near the robot.

They both attacked him with brute force, but Synergy copied their fighting style into his systems, giving them a taste of their own medicine; he fought back using their exact move set.

Tails shot an electrical orb at Synergy, but the Gizoid dodged the attack and morphed his right hand into the same blaster the fox used, shooting him with the same-colored orb. Tails fell on top of Rouge.

The Gizoid then glared at Big the Cat, who looked as scared as a cat when they touch water.

Knuckles, Mighty, and Ray jumped on Synergy, but the Gizoid's will overpowered them.

"Big, run!" Amy shouted, swinging her hammer at the Gizoid. She missed; Synergy transformed his hands into green Piko Piko Hammers, slamming Amy against the ground.

"Leave her alone!" Sonic attacked Synergy before grabbing Amy with his hands. Carrying her bridal style, he volley kicked Synergy and got Amy up on her feet. The pink hedgehog thanked him before she and Sonic were suddenly smacked right into Vector, Espio, and Charmy.

As Big made a run for it, Synergy slowly chased after him by speed-walking. Before he could run, Whisper shot him in the back with a cyan laser. She cocked her weapon, turning it into Cube Mode. The Gizoid turned around and smacked the Variable Wispon out of her hands, grabbing the wolf's body, and chucking her into Shadow's chest.

Synergy finally zoomed in front of Big, wrapping his Chaos Claw around the cat's neck. Froggy tried to save his best friend by jumping on Synergy's face, but the Gizoid grabbed him too. He held them both in the air; Big was struggling to breath.

The Resistance got up and charged at the Gizoid, but Synergy gave them a small warning.

"Make one more step and the cat dies!" he snarled, holding Big right in front of him.

The Resistance stopped in their tracks, not wanting to risk Big getting killed. Shadow was about to teleport behind the Gizoid, but even Synergy was smart enough to know Shadow would make such a move.

"Try making another step, Shadow the Hedgehog, I dare you!" Synergy threatened the black hedgehog.

Reluctantly, Shadow stood back, refusing to be the cause of Big's death.

"Let Big go right now, Synergy!" Sonic yelled. "That's low for you! Using Big as a hostage so you can make your big escape and gloat about how you're such a mighty conqueror!"

"He has nothing to do with this!" Amy yelled. "Let him go!"

Synergy chuckled, keeping a tight grip on Big's neck; the cat coughed, struggling to breath.

"Oh, why would I do that?" Synergy asked. "He may not look it, but he's a strong fighter. I've scanned his biodata when I first met him and he's a lot stronger than I thought he'd be. I could use that for my army. Besides, using this guy as a hostage is a good way to get me scot-free, so I can _build my empire!_ The next time you see me, Sonic, Imperator Ix, Procurator Shade, and I will rule this world! Goodbye, Resistance scum!"

Synergy unwrapped his fingers, giving the cat and the frog a chance to breathe. He then grabbed Big's tail with one hand and the frog with his other hand, taking off into the sky.

Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles perused the ancient robot. The Tech-savvy Sidekick fired three electric orbs, missing Synergy entirely. The Guardian of the Master Emerald and the Blue Blur leaped upward, the latter jumped on the former's back, as the echidna glided through the starry night sky.

Synergy noticed this and swung Big backward, smacking his chest against Sonic and Knuckles.

The two Freedom Fighters fell against the ground, rubbing their heads in pain.

Without leaving a trace, Synergy blasted away. However, Dr. Eggman, who was hiding in the shadows with his cohorts, saw the Gizoid running away. He cracked his fingers and pointed at the soon-to-be Eggman Empire lackey. He, Dr. Starline, Rough, and Tumble chased after him.

The Resistance has lost the mission. _**(5s)**_

As they all moaned and complained, Commander Tower reached into his pocket, pulling out a walkie-talkie. He spoke to someone on the other side.

"This is Commander Abraham Tower," he said. "Tell the President to declare National Emergency."

Knuckles, Sonic, Tails, Amy, Team Chaotix, Mighty, and Ray all took soft breaths; each of them were either disappointed or mad that they failed a mission that should have been simple. Synergy was just one guy, he should be easy to defeat, right?

The only ones who weren't disappointed in the mission's results were Shadow and Rouge.

Speaking of which, Knuckles stormed toward them, letting out a ticked off sigh. "We need to talk."

"Listen," Shadow growled. "We- "

"I don't want to hear it," Knuckles said. "You're coming back with us."

"We were gonna do that regardless if we caught Synergy or not," Rouge said. "Calm down,"

"We had this _under control!_ " Amy snarled. "If you hadn't called G.U.N, Synergy would be destroyed by now and Big wouldn't have gotten captured!

"Listen, Pinkie," Rouge poked Amy's chest with her finger. "He was going to hurt innocents! We did what had to be done!"

"Hey, guys," Mighty said. "Sorry to change the topic, but where did that wolf girl go?"

The Resistance looked behind them and saw that Whisper was gone; completely out of sight. They all searched for her for a couple seconds before they decided to focus on the main topic; failing the mission.

"She's gone?" Sonic asked. "That sucks, she could have been a member of our team."

"Forget about her," Knuckles said, walking down the streets. The rest of the Resistance followed him. "Everyone, head back to Resistance HQ, we'll talk about our next move in the morning."

"Thank goodness," Charmy wiped his sweaty forehead. "I need some sleep."

"We all do, Charmy," Knuckles said, glaring at Rouge and Shadow. "We all do."

The Resistance walked past the GUN soldiers, wishing to head back to Green Hill City in one piece. What they hoped would be a successful fight turned out to be a total bust.

But they remain unaware that the worst has yet to come.

 _ **END OF CHAPTER 12**_

* * *

 _Well, that fight could have gone better. Despite knowing that his charade has come to and end, Synergy still wants Big to join his army. This could be trouble for the Resistance. How will they cope with the capture of their friend? How will they get him back? Where was Silver during all of this?_

 _Well, I guess we will find out in "Chapter 13: Suffer the Consequences"_

 _As you can tell. The answer to the poll was Choice #1: Big finds out Synergy is evil on his own. Originally, it was supposed to be Choice #3, but I think their friendship has dragged out long enough._

* * *

 ** _POST-A/N:_**

 _Whisper isn't sticking around with the Resistance for now. But do not worry, she isn't gone forever. She will come back again soon along with Silver the Hedgehog. we will finally see him again soon._

 _Knuckles and Amy are mad at Rouge and Shadow because they felt that they had the situation under control, so they thought that G.U.N. showing up jeopardized their chance at capturing the Gizoid. That is why they are mad. They're gonna be even more ticked once they find out what the President has to say in the next chapter._

 _The G.U.N. Commander doesn't have a name in the games, so I used his Archie Comics name: Abraham Tower._

 _As always, don't forget to leave your thoughts down below. I'm the Sensational SpiderDom321 and I'll see you all next time! :D_

 _~SD321 (SpiderDom321)_


	13. Suffer the Consequences

_**A/N:** Hey, look at that! Another update! Yeah, the reason why I have been putting so much attention into this story as of late is because a lot of ideas for it have kept popping into my brain. My other story, Sonic Heroes: The Atom Bomb, I love working on, but getting some chapters out for this story is a priority at the moment. I'd rather focus on one project for now before focusing on the other one. You all understand, right?_

 _Special thanks to TGN and Infinite's Ruby for their feedback and thanks to the latter for helping me out as always. Thank you all for over **60 reviews** and for over **1,700 views!**_

 ** _Suggested Music:_**

 ** _(1) Nonaggression - Sonic Advance 3 OST_**

 _Without further ado, enjoy the show._

* * *

 **Suffer the Consequences**

As the Resistance dealt with the consequences of their loss, Elder Scruffy has guided his new friends to his humble abode: Windmill Village.

The place was a peaceful, remote town located in the mountains; it didn't have much to it, but Elder Scruffy didn't mind. The place contained small houses, buildings, and large windmills earned the village its name. as well as a large variety of flowers that grew all over the arable land's gardens. Cream and Cheese were amazed by the number of colorful daisies, roses, tulips, etc. that they were looking at. The former wanted to run up there and sniff all the flowers, but her mind told her that sleep was a number one priority.

The rabbit yawned, same could be said for the Chao.

"I know, Kiddo," G-merl said, wrapping his arm around Cream. "We're almost there."

"You can stay as long as you want, my friends," Elder Scruffy smiled. "I'll have my apprentice, Goat, show you where you can stay."

"We appreciate the help, sir," Blaze kindly bowed. "I am indebted to you."

"There is no need to feel that way, your highness," Elder Scruffy shook his hand. "You helped me in the woods, might as well return the favor."

" _Argh!_ " G-merl suddenly collapsed on his knees, placing his hands on the ground. His whole body began to shake; shaking as if something was crawling inside his circuits. He slammed his hands against his head, trying to rid the strange feeling he was experiencing right now. He wondered what it was.

Cream and Cheese lowered themselves to G-merl's level, worried there was something wrong with G-merl. Blaze and Elder Scruffy turned around and ran towards the robot. What was wrong with him?

"G-merl?" Cream said in a worried tone, cupping her hands over her mouth. "Are you all right?"

"I'm f-f-f-fine!" G-merl's voice glitched as he spoke; his blue eyes began to glitch as well. Soon, yellow sparks of electricity ran through his body. G-merl pushed Cream away, not wanting her to get electrocuted, as he collapsed on his back. Blaze stood in front of Cream, not wanting her to get hurt, as she looked down at the malfunctioning Gizoid.

"G-merl!?" Blaze asked in a worried tone. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"G-merl!" Cream cried out in concern for her friend. The robot kept shaking and his eyes kept glitching. " _ **G-merl!**_ "

* * *

 _~G-merl's P.O.V._

Oh. Great. Not another one of these again.

I was afraid I would encounter one of these flashbacks again, but I was hoping I'd get settled in Windmill Village first before this started to happen. Don't you just hate it when things don't turn out your way? I know I do.

Anyways, I was once again in Emerl's body, but I wasn't in a dark laboratory like I was last time. Instead, I was stuck inside some kind of arena. The place was covered in nothing but silver paint, aside from a few sculpted, blue-colored symbols of the Great Fourth Civilization's leader, Imperator Ix. There were also different carvings of the Knuckles Clan standing alongside the God of Destruction, Chaos.

That carving was a little weird because it made it seem like Chaos and the Knuckles Clan were friends, when really… well, you know what happened.

I started walking down the arena, when all of a sudden… I was attacked.

 _ **CRASH!**_

I was slammed into the wall by a green-colored fist. I flew around the arena and slammed, back first, into a picture of Chief Pachacamac. As I landed on the ground, my ocean blue eyes looked up to see my attacker.

It was the same Gizoid I met in my last dream: Project: Synergy. He was standing there, glaring at me as if I ate his last slice of pizza. He morphed his hands into giant Chaos-like claws, giving me a hint that he had the biodata of said character. Running towards me, he jumped into the air and formed his claws into fists.

Not knowing what was going on, I decided to let my fists do the talking.

I quick-stepped to the side like Sonic would and I landed an uppercut on his chin like Knuckles would. I then grabbed the robot by his light-blue fins, spun him around like a wrecking ball, and threw him to the side. I watched him crash into the wall.

He landed on the ground, chest first. As he got up, his Chaos claws retracted back into his normal hands. It was at that moment where I thought this fight would be over, but knowing my luck… I was wrong.

His hands didn't turn into claws this time, they instead transformed into the same hands that highly resembled Knuckles' gloves. He suddenly drilled into the ground and started digging a massive hole. So, not only does thus guy have the data of Chaos, but he has the data of an echidna as well… great.

Walking around, I searched for him in hopes of catching him off guard.

Just my luck, I did.

I felt the ground rumbling below me; Synergy was coming up beneath me. I waited a few seconds just so I could time my attack just right. I nodded my head and jumped up in the air; Synergy erupted out of the ground with two power drills for hands. As soon as he stepped foot on the ground, I slammed my foot on top of his head, slamming him into the dirt.

He pushed me off of him and started throwing punches, and nothing but punches. He missed me every time. I wasn't sure if this was because I was more powerful than him or if he just really stunk at fighting. Anyways, I grabbed his hand at the last punch, flipped him over, and slammed him right into the ground.

Before I could finish him off, I heard a shout from behind me.

"Stand down Project: Emerl!" someone shouted. It was a female. I looked behind me and saw an orange-furred echidna with a black costume on. She had purple highlights and details that ran all over the suit. I've seen this girl before.

She was Imperator Ix's right hand chief, Procurator Shade.

"That's enough training for today, you two," she told me again. "Stand down Project: Emerl. Do not make me repeat myself again."

Afraid of what could happen if I didn't stand down, I did as I was told. I offered Synergy my hand and, to my surprise, he took it. I helped him up on his feet. Him and I bowed before each other as if we were ninjas training in front of our sensei.

Shade walked around the two of us, a smile was printed on her face. "You two are improving. Especially you, Project: Emerl, I can see you're learning to think before you do."

I nodded my head.

"Project: Synergy," she continued. "I see a lot of potential within you; however, you have to learn to think before you act. You should have planned out how you were going to attack Emerl. He predicted your next move. You cannot let your enemy do that to you! Understand?"

The blue/green Gizoid nodded his head.

"That's enough sparring for tonight," she said. She started walking out of the room. "Head back to your quarters. Imperator Ix will talk with you two in the morning."

She slammed the door, leaving me and Project: Synergy alone. The blue/green robot simply obeyed orders and walked back to his chamber, I hesitated at first before I followed. What could this all mean? What the heck was the purpose of these two flashbacks? Could they mean something?

And just like that… I saw a flash of light.

And then, there was nothing.

* * *

"G-merl!?" Cream shouted again. The Gizoid was moaning, groaning, glitching, and shaking in confusion. He had no idea what has happening nor did he know why. Blaze, Cream, Cheese, and Elder Scruffy took a step towards him, wanting to see what was going on.

"Does he normally do that?" Elder Scruffy asked.

"I'm not sure," Blaze replied. "G-merl, what's wrong?"

G-merl stood up, regaining his balance, as he started walking towards the group. Blaze clenched his fist in case violence would be needed to solve this problem, but somebody else decided to take care of it themselves.

Out of the shadows of the village, a figure with a violet cloak emerged from the darkness. They jumped behind G-merl and opened up his back compartment. Messing around with his circuits, they did something that made the black/yellow Gizoid stop his seizure-like behavior.

"Shutting dowwnnnnnn…" G-merl's eyes lost their glow, as he shut himself down.

"G-G-merl!?" Cream worried. "Excuse me, what did you do?"

"It's okay," said the purple-cloaked figure, she had the voice of a female. "I didn't harm him. I put him in reboot mode. He should take some time to clear out his hard drive. He should be up and running in the morning. I apologize for coming out of nowhere like that."

"Ladies," Elder Scruffy said. "This is my apprentice, Goat. Goat, these two are- "

"Blaze the Cat and Cream the Rabbit," Goat kindly bowed. "I remember you too. It's been a long time, huh?"

Blaze raised an eyebrow. "Have we met before?"

"Yes, we have. You helped Knuckles, the team, and I stop the Eggman Empire. You and your friend, Silver, helped us all." Goat nodded.

"Your voice sounds familiar, Miss," Cream scratched her head. "If you don't mind me asking, who are you?"

"I was afraid you'd ask, but at the same time, I'm glad you did. I do not want to keep my identity a secret any longer."

Blaze and Cream exchanged a nervous look. Who was this stranger and how did she know them?

Goat suddenly removed her cloak's hood, revealing her true identity.

The rabbit and the lavender cat gasped with utter shock.

"I remember you!" Blaze pointed.

"It's… it's…" Cream couldn't find the right words to describe this reveal. "It's you!"

* * *

The next day, the Resistance were sitting in Resistance HQ's office room, watching an interview between the President and Brenda: A news reporter for Empire City.

"Good morning people of Mobius, I'm Ace reporter Brenda bringing you the latest in all news!" the enthusiastic reporter tipped her pink-sunglasses over his face, looking at the tall president in the dark blue suit. "Today, I'm here with the President of the United Federation himself; we'll be talking about a recent act of terrorism on Soleanna. So, Mr. President, is It true that you're declaring a National Emergency? You haven't done that since the Black Arms Invasion."

"That's correct, Ms. Brenda," said the President, adjusting his red tie. "For the first time in years, I am declaring a National Emergency across Planet Mobius. Just last night, Commander Knuckles and his Freedom Fighters have encountered a Gizoid by the name of Project: Synergy. The robot was last seen attacking the town in what appeared to be, according to Miles "Tails" Prower of the Resistance, a Chaos Emulation. I wasn't sure what that meant, but he was destroying the city nonetheless."

Every member of the Resistance looked at one another, each giving a nervous glance.

"The last time the Gizoid was seen was with a purple cat by the name of Big, claiming that he and the cat will build an empire together," said the President. "According to Agent Rouge of the G.U.N., she notified the press that Big and Synergy have been spending time together before the attack, leading Congress and the Guardian Unit of Nations to believe that the two are working together."

Everyone sneered at Rouge and Shadow. The former awkwardly waved; the latter simply closed his eyes.

"I am ordering all citizens to stay inside their homes and to proceed with caution. The G.U.N. has sent their best agents to look for these two criminals. If anyone has seen them, please call the Guardian Units of Nations as soon as possible," the President finished. "I am sorry to push all of this on you, my fellow citizens of Planet Mobius, but something must be done to stop this Gizoid epidemic. Stay safe, everyone."

"And this has been the news for today," Brenda waved to the camera. "So long everyone and have a way past cool morning! Bye-bye!"

Knuckles lifted the remote and turned off the TV. Him and Amy both looked at Rouge and Shadow, letting out stressful sighs.

"Really!?" Knuckles said, placing the remote on the table. " _Really!?_ "

"Okay, I know this looks bad," Rouge said calmly. "But when I said the two were spending time together, I meant that Big was Synergy's hostage. Knowing the press, they exaggerated it into fake news."

"Yellow journalism at it's finest!" Vector pointed, smiling.

"Do you not see what you two have done!?" Amy snarled at both G.U.N. agents. "Because of your act of calling G.U.N. last night, _the whole world thinks Big the Cat, a lovable, caring soul_ _ **IS A HEINOUS CRIMINAL!**_ "

"We didn't anticipate Synergy kidnapping the big cat," Shadow said calmly. "Also, G.U.N. has no control of what kind of news get broadcasted. It's likely they edited our statements and footage to increase viewership members."

"It did look pretty edited to me," Charmy stroked his chin.

"Like I said," Vector pointed again. "Yellow journalism!"

Amy whipped out her Piko Piko Hammer, aiming it at Shadow and Rouge. "Knuckles, may I have your permission to smack Shadow and Rouge for getting us in more trouble!?"

Knuckles stroked his chin. "Sure,"

But just as Amy was about to turn the agents into pancakes, Mighty, who jumped out of his seat and ran to the angry hedgehog, grabbed the hammer and held it in the air, watching Amy fling her legs back and forth. She growled and snarled, unaware she wasn't moving towards Shadow and Rouge.

"Need I remind you that I _dislike_ pointless violence, Amy," Mighty said in a stern tone. He turned over his shoulder and spoke to Knuckles. "Knux, I know you're not the sharpest tool in the shed, but I thought you'd be smart enough to know that fighting isn't going to solve anything."

Knuckles aimed his purple eyes at the ground, ashamed that he acted out of character when giving Amy permission to hit Shadow and Rouge.

"During my travels, I learned that we change what we can; we manage what we cannot," Mighty said again. "Shadow and Rouge called G.U.N. because they had no choice. They did what they needed to do. Synergy kidnapped Big, so it's up to us to get him back. It's our responsibility to suffer through the consequences and learn from our downfalls."

"Mighty's right, Knuckles," Espio nodded. "We have to accept the fact that Big is gone, but we will get him back."

Knuckles thought about his next move for a few seconds; he knew both Espio and Mighty were right. He let out a low sigh before raising his hand. "Amy, stand down. Don't hit them."

Amy reluctantly calmed down, Mighty placed her on the ground. She stored her hammer away, glaring at Rouge. The bat smiled and shot her a wink

"So, we can all agree that last night's mission was a bust," Knuckles paced back and forth. The Resistance nodded as he spoke. "However, we can always find a way to fix this. First, we have to tell the President that Big isn't a criminal, and we have to look for Silver. Speaking of the latter, has anyone gotten into contact with him?"

"I tried four times when I woke up this morning," Tails answered. "He hasn't responded."

"Same here!" Charmy said. He and the other Resistance members said the same thing.

"Where was the last place you sent him?" Sonic inquired.

"Last time I saw him, I sent him down to Soleanna to clean up the remaining Badniks there," Knuckles replied. "I thought we would have seen him there or he would have heard the commotion we were causing, but nope, he was nowhere to be seen."

"This could be trouble," Espio said. "Either he moved to another location to find more of Eggman's enemies, or he got captured. I'm hoping the latter isn't true."

"Well, I sent him to clear out the areas around Soleanna," Knuckles said. "So, maybe he's in the same location, but he went to a different location… wow, say that ten times fast."

"What places neighbor the city?" Shadow asked.

"Dusty Desert, Wave Ocean, and White Acropolis, why?"

"There's a strong possibility he went to either of those locations. I'll go look for him," Shadow said. He almost walked out the door, but Amy stopped him by blocking him off.

"No way!" she snarled. "You're staying here and helping us clear Big's name!"

"Rouge can help you do that," Shadow said. "She happens to be close with the President."

"If you're going to find Silver, count me in!" Sonic jumped out of his seat, ran up to the black hedgehog, and wrapped his arm around him. To which Shadow moaned in annoyance. "You can't go wrong with a little team-up between Sonic and Shadow!"

"Tell me you didn't just refer to yourself in the third person," Shadow gently facepalmed himself.

"Sonic, are you serious about this?" Tails asked. "Synergy gave us a beating last night; don't you think you could use some rest?"

"I'll be okay, little buddy," Sonic winked, giving his brother a thumbs up. "Besides, it's been a while since Shadow, and I have had an old-school team up. When was our last one? That time we found out Eggman Nega was turning people into cards? Or maybe it was earlier than that? Anyways, this should be fun! Where should we head first, Shadz?"

"Don't call me Shadz," Shadow snarled, pointing a finger at Sonic's nose. "And we're heading to Wave Ocean first."

"Way past cool!" Sonic busted the door open. "Last one there's a rotten Eggman!" he waved goodbye before he took off running; a puff of smoke was left behind after he ran off.

The Resistance coughed because of the dust cloud's presence. Shadow rolled his eyes before he started walking out the door. "I'll be back soon. Rouge, help the Resistance save the cat, we'll find Silver as fast as we can."

Rouge nodded. "You got it, Shadz,"

"Dear god, it's become a running gag," Shadow mumbled to himself. He shut the doors and ran off, following Sonic to wherever he was going.

Now that they were alone, Knuckles turned to the Resistance to discuss their next move.

"Now then," Knuckles said. "How are we gonna tell the President the truth about Big?"

"It seems like words won't do us any good," Tails answered. "We're gonna have to _show_ them."

"W-what d-d-do you mean, T-T-T-Tails?" Ray inquired.

"It's not like we can show them a video of Big doing something heroic or something, ha-ha," Vector snickered. The Resistance gave him a neutral look. "Oh, wait, we can do that?"

"Yeah!" Tails smiled.

"But we don't know anyone who records our adventures," Amy said. "Who can we possibly get to help us?"

Tails grinned, stroking his white-furred chin. "Does anyone know if Omochao is available?"

* * *

Big the Cat was fast asleep in the middle of the Mystic Jungle: one of the many places where a donnybrook between the Resistance and the Eggman Empire took place. The chubby fisherman had fallen asleep after spending an entire day spending time with his "best friend" and fighting against the robot who had lied to him since day one. He let out a loud yawn, as he stretched his arms.

Waking up from his slumber, he opened his eyes slowly and saw something (someone, to be exact) that he completely forgot about.

Synergy the Gizoid was sitting near the Aqua Road: a large slide of water that leads to a giant pool below. He turned around and watched as his soon to be minion awakened from his slumber.

"Good morning," he said, trying to be nice. "You fell asleep after we left Soleanna. I was going to head back to the Mystic Ruins, but I figured I'd stop just to give you a place to rest. Soldiers do have to look out for each other, am I right?"

Big neglected Synergy's comment, turning his back towards him. "I don't want to talk to you!"

"I figured you'd say that," Synergy replied. He got off his rear and paced back and forth. "Listen, Big, I need your help."

"I don't want to help you!" Big huffed. "You lied to me!"

"I know I did, but I had to find _some way_ to keep you on my side," Synergy motioned to Big. "You gotta do what you gotta do to make it in this world, no matter who you have to hurt. Anyways, Sonic and the others claimed that they've defeated the Nocturnus Clan. I think that's a lie."

"Look who's talking, hippocampus!"

"I think you meant to say hypocrite,"

"Isn't that what I said?"

Synergy shook his head, letting out a small chuckle at Big's unintentional joke. "As I was saying, the last time I've seen my clan was in the Mystic Ruins; the place I was created. I may not know much about that black hole in the sky, but I have a feeling some of them survived. If we find them, we can tell them that there is a whole new world ahead of us! Together, we can build a new Nocturne and rule the world! Mwa-hahahahahahahahaha!... but seriously, I need your help."

"Are you crazy! Ruling the world is a mean thing to do! I don't want to be a bad guy!"

"Who said you were the bad guy?" Synergy asked Big.

"You're as evil as Dr. Eggman! I don't want to help you! I gave you my trust and you threw it away like it was nothing!... give me a reason why I should help you."

Synergy thought about his reasoning until he snapped his fingers. "If you help me find my family, I will allow you to teach my clan how to fish."

"Nope!" Big replied.

"I can train you in the ways of combat,"

"Na-da!"

"You and Froggy can be treated like a princes."

"What's wrong with you?"

"Gosh darn it! What else do you want from me!?"

Big folded his arms and huffed at the Gizoid again, not wanting to talk to him. However, as he sat there and listened to the Gizoid pace back and forth, he thought of something; something that he was curious about since Synergy's betrayal.

"Synergy?" Big said. "Can I ask you something?"

"What is it?" Synergy replied.

At first, he was hesitant to ask this question, but he really wanted to know the answer to his query. "You lied to me about everything, that's what you said last night… were you lying about liking fishing?"

Synergy stopped walking, registering Big's question into his mainframe. He turned to the side, thinking about his answer. He did remember liking fishing a lot when Big first taught him the Astonishing Toss. He recalled having a lot of fun despite catching a fish no bigger than his finger. He lowered his head and turned away from Big, wanting to hide his shame.

"To your surprise," he began. "No… I didn't lie when I said that… back in my clan, the only thing I was taught how to do was fight. I've spent countless hours training with my general, preparing for a great war against my creator's enemies: The Knuckles Clan. I've never done anything else but destroy anything that was in my sight… and when I crashed into that temple, I've done nothing but sit there, looking at nothing but darkness. A pitch-black space where nothing exists… I thought my entire life was over at that moment."

Big turned around, facing the Gizoid's back.

"But when I woke up, fought Sonic, flew away, and met you… I thought I was experiencing a dream, but nope… this was real. For the record, I don't know how long I've been asleep for, but it was nice to wake up with a friendly face staring back at you… the moment you taught me how to fish… was the greatest moment of my new life. I want to thank you for showing me something I've never learned before."

This didn't sound like a lie to the cat. From the way Synergy was talking, which was a mixture between happy and depressed, Big didn't know what to think of Synergy's brief origin story. He may lack knowledge in Synergy's _full_ origins, but he figured the Gizoid had a rough life.

As he laid back against the tree he was sitting by, he placed his hands together and began to think (something he barely does). Synergy didn't sound like he was lying, but Big was smart enough to believe that the robot could be up to some tricks. But… he did have a fun time fishing with him.

He remembered the look on his face when Synergy asked if they could fish again; he was excited.

Big turned his head over his shoulder, seeing Synergy look off into the horizon.

From the way he was talking, Synergy sounded like he enjoyed other aspects of life other than world domination; something Big could use to his advantage. He planned out how he was going to escape and thought it would be best to put his plan into action.

Getting off his rear, he walked up to Synergy.

Synergy turned around, surprised to see a smile on Big's face.

The cat offered the Gizoid his hand. "All right, Synergy, I'll help you find your clan."

"Great!" Synergy clenched his fists in excitement.

" _ **BUT!**_... I want to be the one to guide you back. I know a short-cut to the Mystic Ruins."

"You do?"

"Yeah! Follow me and I'll show you!" Big pointed to the right. Froggy jumped on his shoulder, as he walked down the jungle.

Synergy nodded his head in appeasement, happy to have _one_ soldier for his army.

He followed the cat, unaware of where he'll go next.

* * *

"So, how long have you been here, um… Goat?" Blaze asked. She was sitting inside Goat's house with a cup of tea in her hand. She and Cream had just woken up after they were kindly allowed to stay at Goat's place for the night. The lavender cat sipped her tea, placing the cup on the table.

"I've been here for a few years. Ever since I helped you guys fight Dr. Eggman, I took shelter here after helping Elder Scruffy find some food for the children," Goat replied. She looked to her right and saw Cream looking at G-merl, who was still in his reboot mode. The cream-colored rabbit closed her eyes, letting a small tear run down her cheek. Blaze leaned over and wiped the tear from the six-year-old's face, assuring her the robot was going to be okay. "He'll be fine, sweetie, he just needs some rest."

"What happened to G-merl anyway?" Blaze inquired. "He started freaking out when he arrived here. Did something happen to him?"

"G-merl must have experienced a memory flash. I am not sure what he was thinking of, but I have seen Gizoids have that problem in my past. It really happened after the war against our enemies. It's not really PTSD, but it does happen if they see something truly horrific," Goat spoke in a low tone.

"The last thing G-merl told Cream and I was that he dreamt of a robot called… what was it called?"

"Project: Synergy?" Cream asked.

"Ha, never thought I'd hear that name again," Goat shook her head. "He was one of many projects that my master made a long time ago. He and Project: Emerl, G-merl's original body, were two of the most powerful ones. Emerl was stronger than Synergy, but the latter proved himself as a force to be reckoned with."

"Can you tell us about him?" Cream asked. "If you don't mind."

Goat placed her cup on the table, cracking her fingers. "Grab some popcorn and a drink. This is going to take a while."

 _ **END OF CHAPTER 13**_

* * *

 _Who is this mysterious Goat? What does she have to tell Cream and Blaze? Will G-merl be okay? Looks like Big has found a way to "escape" Synergy's grasp... sort of. He has a plan to get out of the situation he's in. Finally, Sonic and Shadow set out to search for Silver the Hedgehog. That character will show up in the very next chapter. But wait, what happened to Dr. Eggman and Dr. Starline? I guess we'll find out soon enough. Omochao? How the heck is that little booger gonna help the Resistance? So many questions, so many answers._

 _Stay tuned as Sonic and Shadow head to Wave Ocean in "Chapter 14: The Search for Silver."_

* * *

 _ **POST-A/N:**_

 _I do apologize if this chapter wasn't anything much. I really wanted to focus on more character interaction as well as plot progression. Goat's debut will progress the plot as we'll find out who she is soon. I think her dialogue gives her identity away._

 _The Eggman Nega joke Sonic made is a reference to the story of the first Sonic Rivals game. In that storyline, Silver comes back from the future to find Dr. Eggman Nega, who is up to no good as usual. He made this mechanical camera that transforms people into a card if he snaps a picture of them. I wasn't sure how he was planning on using that idea to conquer the world, but okay. Sonic, Knuckles, Shadow, and Silver worked together to defeat him. I am sure Sonic and Shadow have teamed up as a duo in a later Sonic game, but Sonic Rivals is the only one I know of at the moment._

 _Don't forget to review, favorite, and follow, I am the Sensational SpiderDom321 and I'll see you next time, web-heads!_

 _~SD321 (SpiderDom321)_


	14. The Search for Silver

_**A/N:** Before I head off and celebrate my birthday tomorrow, I wanted to get another chapter of this story released to the public. Special thanks again to the people who have reviewed and special thanks to Kitsune's Saviour for leaving a favorite and a follow on this story. And special shoutout to them for following me myself. For those of you wanting to know how old I'm turning: That's a secret. ;)_

 ** _Suggested Music:_**

 ** _(1) Wave Ocean - Sonic the Hedgehog 2006 OST_**

 ** _(2) Egg Gate - Sonic Forces OST_**

 ** _(3) Hub - Silver - Sonic Generations OST_**

 _Without further ado, enjoy the show!_

* * *

 **The Search for Silver**

 _ **(1)**_ Wave Ocean: a coastal area located right next to Soleanna. A resort based off of Emerald Coast in Station Square was a place that Sonic and Shadow hoped to locate their telekinetic friend: Silver the Hedgehog. The two hedgehogs were running across the sand.

"What a nice day to head to the beach," Sonic smiled, resting his hands behind his head. It truly was a beautiful day at the beach.

The sun was gleaming a blazing heat down below, the ocean softly brushed against the warm sand, and there wasn't a single cloud in the sky. Sonic would have liked to run around Wave Ocean just so he can explore the area, but he remembered that finding Silver was a bigger priority. Him and Shadow traversed through the sand, running onto a boardwalk flooded with small beach huts and randomly placed gates.

Sonic and Shadow slid through the gates, pushing the doors open. They made it on the other side and made a right turn.

"We're not here to sight see," Shadow said. He boosted through another gate, running along the pathway. "We're here to look for Silver. He should be around here somewhere."

"Relax, Shadow," Sonic said. "We'll find him."

Sonic and Shadow got off the boardwalk and came across a section of the beach with two different pathways. One of them lead to a medium-sized cave while the other one lead to a few hills. The two of them decided to split up.

The Blue Blur ran down the path with the hills while the Ultimate Life Form entered the cave. He teleported up to the top of the cave and ran past a few rocks that stood in his way. Eventually, he found a path that ran from the floor to the side of the wall. Shadow increased his speed to the point where a red and black aura appeared in front of him; he lifted his legs up and boosted up the side, wall-running to where he needed to go.

Down below, Sonic jumped up a small hill and ran down a grassy section. The sun's light was suddenly blocked because a giant rocky mountain was casting a shadow over Sonic's fur. The hero of Mobius glanced up at Shadow and let out a small grunt.

"Show off!" Sonic yelled at Shadow. To which Shadow rolled his eyes in annoyance. Just as Sonic jumped over a rocky/grassy platform, he ran down a slope. "He thinks he could run faster than me, I'll show him a thing or two-Whoa!"

Catching Sonic by surprise, four Motobugs were rushing towards him.

Shadow noticed the Motobugs advancing on Sonic, and jumped off the wall, landing on the platform in front of him.

Sonic smirked at the sight of the Badniks, as he curled into a ball, spin dashing into all four of them at once. He uncurled and wiped his hands off. "Didn't even break a sweat!" _**(1s)**_

"Don't talk to soon," Shadow pointed behind the blue hedgehog; a neutral expression was on his face.

Sonic turned around, only to be greeted by a huge missile, which was heading straight for his face. Shadow teleported to Sonic and pushed him out of the way. The two hedgehogs rolled across the dirt until they landed in battle poses, glaring up at whatever attacked them.

It was a Spina: A Badnik meant to look like a Razor-bat, and a Motobug. Only the two of them were not normal Badniks; they were a lot _bigger_ than they were usually. The two Super-Badniks nodded to each other before calling out some minions to help. Normal sized, Motobugs, Spinas, and Slicers arrived on the scene. The same thing went with the Egg Pawns wearing grass skirts and coconut bras.

"Seriously?" Sonic asked.

"Knuckles did say that Silver was out looking for Badniks," Shadow said. "Guess he missed some."

"No worries," Sonic smiled. "I'll clean em' up!" _**(2)**_

The two hedgehogs charged into battle.

Sonic ran up to a few Slicers and slid underneath them, tripping them over with his feet. He then homing attacked each of them until he was suddenly electrocuted by the Super Spina's antennas, sending him crashing to the ground, landing on his side. However, being the strong hero he is, Sonic quickly got back up and attacked the Super Spina faster than a ninja; punching, kicking, hacking, and slashing him.

Unfortunately, despite his effort, the Super Spina was still intact. It backed away from the hedgehog and shot another bolt of electricity. Sonic dodged out of the way this time, landing to the side, volley kicking a Slicer across the face.

Shadow had it a lot better than Sonic thanks to his Chaos Powers. He shot three Chaos Spears at the Motobugs, destroying them with ease, before he came across the Super Motobug. The oversized insect opened up a compartment on the top of his head; a large missile launcher shot out the top.

Two large missiles locked on Shadow, blasting right towards him.

The Black Blur punched a small Spina twice, kicked it up in the air, and shot it away with two balls of purple energy. He quickly glanced at the two missiles before he whipped out two Chaos Spears.

"Chaos Spear!" he shouted, firing the two of them at the missiles; a massive explosion blocked the Super Motobug's line of sight. As it searched for its target, Shadow suddenly teleported right in front of its face, kicking it in the eyes. Glass fragments fell onto the sand. The Motobug backed itself away from Shadow prior to charging right for him.

Shadow moved out of the way, watching the Super Motobug head for Sonic. "Hey, Faker, move!"

"Hey, I'm the only one who gets to call you Faker, Faker!" Sonic shouted, pointing at Shadow. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped when he saw the behemoth of a Motobug racing right for him; the sand brushed against his oversized tire. Sonic jumped over the Badnik and bashed himself right into its head; it had little effect on it.

He regrouped with Shadow, helping him destroy the other Badniks.

"Thanks," Sonic said.

"Stay focused." Shadow replied, kicking a Slicer's head off.

"That's a nice way of saying you're welcome," Sonic smirked. He grabbed a Motobug, head-butted it three times, flipped it over, and smashed it against the grass.

The smaller Badniks were defeated; only the two Super Badniks remained.

"Got a game plan?" Sonic asked the G.U.N. agent.

"I do," Shadow answered. "You take the giant Spina, I'll deal with the Moto- " _**(2s)**_

Before Shadow could finish, something happened to the giant Motobugs; two bubbles of cyan energy wrapped around them, hindering them from moving.

 _ **(3)**_ "Bug," Shadow finished what he said. His Chaos Spears vanished. "What's going on?"

The Super Badniks suddenly moved away from each other before they crashed into one another three times. They were magically lifted off the ground and slammed into the water; a huge splash soared into the air, splashing on top of Sonic and Shadow. The former freaked out and jumped into Shadow's arms.

"Cold, cold, cold, cold, _**COLD!**_ " Sonic shouted in panic, his fur was soaking wet.

Shadow pushed Sonic off of him, as he looked up to see who helped defeat the Badniks.

While the robots short-circuited because of the water, the attacker came down and revealed himself. The two robots suddenly exploded; scrap metal and smoke shot into the sky.

Silver the Hedgehog cracked his fingers and smiled to the two hedgehogs. Shadow folded his arms and nodded at Silver. Sonic, on the other hand, was happy to see his friend alive and well.

"Mind if I cut in?" Silver asked, his left hand was glowing a cyan color. _**(3s)**_

"Silver, I had that man!" Sonic grinned. He and Shadow walked to the futuristic hedgehog.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to step on your toes," Silver scratched his head nervously. He didn't know Sonic was joking.

"You have a lot of explaining to do," Shadow said, pointing at Silver's chest. "Where were you when we needed you?"

"Wait, what?" Silver asked, surprised. "You needed me?"

"Yeah, dude!" Sonic nodded. "We tried calling you last night, but you never showed up. We were in Soleanna looking for the new bad guy in town, where have you been?"

"I-I'm so sorry!" Silver apologized. His tone went from happy to worrisome. He hated missing out on an opportunity to help his friends in need. "I spent all of yesterday and last night here in Wave Ocean. Knuckles told me to clean up the Badniks around here, so I spent my time looking for them. I wanted to call him and give the Resistance a status report, but I couldn't get an internet signal."

"You haven't been in these last few chapters because of poor internet connection?" Sonic asked, raising an eyebrow. He then whispered to Shadow. "Talk about lazy writing."

"I'm really sorry, guys!" Silver apologized again. "I should have been there when you needed me."

"It's fine, Silver," Sonic winked, giving his psychic friend a thumbs up. "At least you're here now; that's all that matters!"

"It is nice to know you're alive and well," Shadow closed his eyes and nodded. He opened them up. "The Resistance thought you might have been captured."

"Again, my apologies," Silver nodded. "By the way, you said you were looking for the new bad guy yesterday? What did you mean by that? Is Infinite back?"

"Nah, it's not him, thank goodness," Sonic replied, wrapping his arm Silver. "It's a long story. We'll tell you on the way back to HQ." he and Silver started walking back the way they came. Shadow followed close behind.

* * *

After spending a few minutes telling Silver about what happened yesterday and the day before, the white hedgehog did nothing but look at his friends with the uttermost shock. He had no idea that an ancient robot would be awakened, plot to conquer the world, and capture someone as humble as Big the Cat. As he and the two hedgehogs walked along the shore, he rubbed his head.

He registered the whole story into his head just fine, but he still felt bad for not showing up to the showdown last night. He could have used his psychokinesis to take care of the Gizoid no problem, but instead, he was stuck here cleaning up the Badniks that have been littered all over the beach and beyond.

"And that's pretty much it," Sonic said. He, Silver, and Shadow walked along the small resort like area with small houses built on top of arable land. Fresh green grass was mixed in with some sand. Beach chairs with umbrellas were also placed around the ground, and a giant lighthouse could be viewed from where they were walking.

"I should have entered that fight," Silver lowered his head in shame. "He could have been stopped if I used my powers."

"Like, I said, man," Sonic shrugged his shoulders. "It's not your fault."

"Now that you're back," Shadow said. "Are you willing to help us apprehend Synergy?"

"Of course!" Silver clenched his fists, nodding his head. "I came here to protect my future and help my friends! So, of course, I'll help you!"

"Sweet!" Sonic walked between Silver and Shadow, wrapping his arms around the both of them. Silver wrapped his arm around Sonic. Shadow refused to do the same thing they were doing. He groaned in annoyance again. "Team Hedgehog back together again! No, wait! We need a different name."

"No, we do not," Shadow moaned.

"How about Team 06?" Sonic suggested. "Nah, that sounds horrible. Team Trio? No, that's even more stupid. How about Hedgehog Freedom 3?"

"I like that name," Silver pointed.

"Oh, great," Shadow rolled his eyes.

"Perfect!" Sonic smiled. "We have our team name! Hedgehog Freedom 3! Now, all we need is a theme song!"

"For Chaos' sake," Shadow mumbled under his breath. "Don't you dare- "

Just then, Sonic and Silver started singing the lyrics to one of their favorite songs, _"We Can."_

Shadow covered his ears, not wanting to hear the terrible, off-key sounding, singing voices of both hedgehogs. "Maria, help me." he groaned again.

Sonic and Silver kept singing with joy. Shadow kept an iron grip on his ears.

* * *

In Resistance HQ, Miles "Tails" Prower was the only one in the meeting room. He was sitting by the computer, repairing the Miles Electric that had the key to tracking down Synergy's energy signature.

He opened up the back of the communicator and took out the batteries it ran on. It was at that moment where he noticed the during the fight he had with Synergy, the Miles Electric took a bit of a beating, meaning that Synergy lightly damaged it as he was fighting the twin-tailed genius. Tails threw the dead batteries in the garbage before he got up to find new ones.

Opening up a box full of supplies, he fished through materials like Wispons; Resistance themed clothes made by Honey the Cat, framed pictures of the Resistance before and after the war, etc.

"Knuckles _really_ needs to organize this crate," Tails mumbled to himself, pulling out a picture he never expected to see. He pulled out a picture of him and Sonic fighting Eggman's army. Sonic was kicking a Motobug in the face while he was holding onto Tails' hand. The yellow fox smiled at the picture and flipped it over to the back, seeing another picture of him cheering on a race between Sonic and Knuckles. The two of them were running up Rail Canyon's mountains.

"Ah, good times," he chuckled. He then mocked an infamous catchphrase he said when he was younger. " _'Look at all those Eggman's robots!'_ He-he, I was a goofy little kid back then, but I was also pretty strong thanks to Sonic's encouragement. Ha, that was back before I became… became… became…" he voice became low. " _A useless coward."_

Thinking about the times he wanted to talk to Sonic, Tails sat the pictures back in the box. He finally found the batteries he needed and took them out.

The door suddenly opened, letting Amy Rose inside the room. The pink hedgehog watched the fox walk back to his Miles Electric, greeting him with a warm smile.

"Hey, Tails," Amy smiled. "How are you?"

"I'm all right, Amy," Tails gave a smile, trying to hide his true feelings. "What's up?"

"Just checking on the rest of the Resistance. Knuckles and Rouge went to get Omochao and the Chaotix are showing Mighty and Ray around HQ. They're eager to get back into the action soon, we just need Sonic and Shadow to come back with Silver."

"Yeah… yeah, that's good to hear," Tails said in a soft tone, changing the batteries to his communicator. Amy noticed that the fox looked somber; his white cheeks were mushy and he seemed tense, almost on the verge of crying.

"Is something wrong?" Amy asked.

"No, nothing's wrong," Tails replied. "I'm okay."

"Tails, I can read the feelings of others, it's one of my many talents," Amy smiled. "You can tell me if something's bothering you."

Tails was hesitant to tell the pink hedgehog about his feelings. He _really_ wanted to tell Sonic about something they talked about two days ago. They had a conversation about it before, but the fox felt that he didn't go deep into that discussion. He sighed, turning to look at Amy's emerald green eyes. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure, what's up?" Amy asked.

"When Infinite defeated Sonic," the fox began. "Knuckles gathered us together and formed the Resistance; I left the scene and went on my own… how did you guys react to my departure?"

"We were concerned for you," Amy said. "When we'd first heard news of Sonic's defeat, we assumed you were captured as well. Tails, everyone here was deeply concerned for you when we couldn't find you anywhere."

Tails glanced at Amy, his brain was processing this new information. "I'm sorry I made everyone worry about me. I miraculously avoided capture from Eggman's forces for six months. The truth is… the truth is… it's…"

Amy took two steps towards the fox, placing a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay. You can tell me."

Tails sighed once more before finishing his sentence. "I felt ashamed, I couldn't do anything to save Sonic. Infinite and his Phantom Clones overpowered him and I. Instead of avenging my brother… I hid like a coward."

"Tails, what are you talking about?" Amy asked. "You weren't a coward."

"Yes, I was," Tails nodded. "When Chaos 0 came up to me, I turned my back and cried Sonic's name! I took on Chaos 4 and Dr. Eggman when I was younger, I _should_ have been able to fight Chaos 0! Instead, I let some pudgy fat Sonic from another dimension help me out!"

"I thought he was from the past," Amy said.

"I don't know!" Tails waved his arms in the air, he was upset. "I didn't do anything during that war. All I did was find some stupid secret about the Phantom Ruby. Sonic, young Sonic, and the Rookie did all the fighting, all I did was sit on the sidelines, being as useless as I've been as of late!"

"What do you mean as of late?" Amy asked again. She was confused.

"When Sonic and I went to Eggman's Interstellar Amusement Park, he freed all the Wisps while I walked around like an idiot, going on rides, and eating rotten sushi. During the Time Eater incident, my younger self and I did nothing while two Sonics went on an adventure," Tails ranted. His eyes were shedding small tears; he wiped them away because he didn't want Amy to see them. "And on the Lost Hex… I accused Sonic of trusting Eggman more than me; he said no such thing at all! And I put Cubot's head on the body of a Super Badnik. Who puts a moron's head on the body of a Badnik!?"

"Tails, calm down," Amy said, noticing Tails' tears.

"Don't you get it!?" Tails asked. "I've been useless four times! The War was the last straw for me!"

A lugubrious silence filled the room for a few seconds. Tails panted in stress before realizing that he took his rant a bit too far. As soon as he saw the worried look on Amy's face, he gasped and sat down in his chair. Breathing in embarrassment, he apologized for his behavior.

"I'm sorry, Amy," he said. "I didn't mean to shout like that." he let out a low sigh before revealing why he wanted to talk about this topic. "Do you remember when I snapped at Sonic? You know, the day Synergy trapped him in that temple?"

Amy nodded her head.

"Sonic and I had a conversation about that," Tails said softly. "I told him I was worried about him when he was enslaved by Eggman, but I never went into full detail about why I snapped… the truth is… I wanted to tell Sonic… I'm sorry."

Amy didn't know how to respond to that. She had no idea that Tails felt this way. She remembered him helping her, Sonic, and the Resistance chase Dr. Eggman after he captured Cream and hunt for Synergy. Tails had no reason to be doubting himself like this, that's what Amy thought to herself.

She also felt bad that he didn't get a chance to talk to Sonic about this topic.

Amy needed to cheer him up fast. She nodded her head and smiled at the fox. "Tails, you weren't useless. Nobody was prepared for Infinite," Amy said, hoping to reassure the fox. "You faced down Chaos 0, and 4 twice, you were the one who saved Station Square from Eggman's missile attack. Also, you stood up to Eggman after we thought Sonic perished when he was ejected from Space Colony Ark."

Amy pulled Tails into a warm hug. "You're not a failure, Tails."

The twin-tailed fox's frown turned into a smile. He wrapped his arms around Amy, returning the hug. "Thanks, Amy… I'm glad to have you as a friend."

"Likewise," Amy smiled, tightening her hug around the fox.

The two of them hugged each other for a few more seconds before they released from their hug. "I still want to talk to Sonic about this," Tails said, wiping a tear from his eye. "Thank you, Amy,"

"You're welcome, Tails," Amy rubbed Tails' head. To which he chuckled. "I'll leave you to it, little buddy. Thanks for telling me about this. If you ever need me, I'll always be there for you, no matter what."

"Same here," Tails gave Amy a thumbs up.

The pink hedgehog waved goodbye, as she exited the room. The yellow fox returned to what he was doing before: fixing the Miles Electric.

* * *

"Do you see anything, Cubot?" Orbot asked. The two robots were standing at the edge of a cliff in the Mystic Jungle. Dr. Eggman was pacing back and forth. Dr. Starline, Rough, and Tumble were having a small conversation between one another. The two lackeys were looking for the blue/green Gizoid and the chubby purple cat using binoculars. Dr. Eggman and his crew somehow managed to lose them while they were hot on their trail. This angered the human doctor, but he was still more than determined to find Synergy and turn him into a weapon of his own.

"Uh, I see a few things, Orbot," Cubot replied, looking to the left before he turned to the right. "I see some trees, a fun-looking waterslide, and… ha, two squirrels wrestling."

"Cubot," Orbot said. "They're not wrestling."

Cubot lowered his binoculars and squinted his eyes. Surprisingly, it didn't take him long to figure out what the two squirrels were doing. "Oh…"

Meanwhile, Dr. Starline, Rough, and Tumble were watching something through a wormhole created by the platypus's Warp Topaz. They were watching Sonic, Silver, and Shadow walking on the beach. Both Sonic and Silver were still singing, and Shadow was still covering his ears. The two hedgehogs were singing the lyrics to _"His World."_

"Man, they sing… pretty good!" Rough pointed.

"Yeah, we should start a boy band," Tumble said to Rough. "I can be the bad boy, you can be the laid-back one, and Dr. Starline could be the emo one."

"Will you both be quiet!?" Dr. Starline snapped his fingers, snarling at the skunk brothers. He continued watching the three hedgehogs walk on the coastal shore.

Dr. Eggman stopped pacing once he saw what his new minions were watching. "What are you watching?" he asked, walking up to them. "How are you viewing this?"

"To answer your first question, my lord," Dr. Starline answered. "Our enemy has located a missing ally from their Resistance. They're getting stronger by the second. Second, I can see what they're up to thanks to my greatest invention, the Warp Topaz."

"The what now?" Dr. Eggman raised an eyebrow.

"The Warp Topaz," Dr. Starline shut down the wormhole, he showed the doctor the orange and red striped stone on his left hand. "It's nothing like the Chaos Emeralds. Their power is _chaotic and_ can change given the situation or their usage. No, the Warp Topaz can warp space to create gateways to other places, provided it has a power source. If you want, I can show you how it works."

"Hmm… hard pass," Dr. Eggman waved his hands in refusal. "I've had my fill with new strange gemstones. But If Sonic is gathering more allies, I _must_ do something to stop him! I'll send Metal Sonic after him, he _has_ to be done with his upgrades by now."

"Hold on a second, Doctor," Dr. Starline said. "If it's all right with you," the platypus adjusted his jacket and clenched his fist, the Warp Topaz began to glow a bright orange energy. "I would like to take care of that rodent for you."

 _ **END OF CHAPTER 14**_

* * *

 _Silver the Hedgehog has been found, however, Dr. Starline is up to something. What could he possibly be up to? Is he planning on going up against Sonic? How will that play out? And poor Tails, the little kitsune felt so useless after so many adventures, but at least Amy was there to cheer him up. However, he still wants to talk to Sonic_

 _More stuff will be revealed in the next chapter, "Chapter 15: Paging Dr. Starline."_

* * *

 ** _POST-A/N:_**

 _I don't need to explain what those squirrels were doing. ;)_

 _Silver has finally been found. I know his reasoning for not being present is a little lazy, but I wanted to save him for future plans I have in this story. Not only will he meet the returning Whisper the Wolf, but he also meet Tangle as well as Blaze the Cat. It has been a while since Silver and Blaze have been together. If you do want to see them together, check out my other Sonic Forces story, "Sonic Heroes: The Atom Bomb."_

 _Note: Sonic Heroes: The Atom Bomb and Awakened are not tied into each other. Both are separate projects._

 _Don't forget to do the usual review, fav, and/or follow. I'm the Sensational SpiderDom321 and I'll see you next time! :D Peace out, web-heads as I celebrate my birthday!_

 _~SD321 (SpiderDom321)_


	15. Paging Dr Starline

_**A/N:** Before we get started, I want to thank everyone for the birthday wishes they gave me today. You guys are the reason I keep doing what I do; make people happy. Thank you for everyone for all the bday wishes. I had an awesome birthday today. My friends and family joined me for an epic pizza party at a fancy restaurant. Wasn't my decision to have a party there, but it was nice to interact with all friends and family._

 _Special thanks to TGN, Infinite's Ruby, stephanieeche10, and Alexandria Prime for their reviews and for the birthday wishes. One small thing, there is a small poll regarding the final battle to this story because we're almost at the ending point. We have more chapters left to go, but we're almost at Synergy's Endgame. Don't forget to vote now... I really need to take a break from these polls._

 ** _Suggested Music:_**

 ** _(1) Big Arm (Final Boss) - Sonic 3 & Knuckles OST_**

 ** _(2) Boss - Sonic Rush Adventure OST_**

 ** _(3) Bomber Barbara - Sonic Rush OST_**

 _Without further ado, enjoy the show!_

* * *

 **Paging Dr. Starline**

Shadow the Hedgehog had enough of walking through Wave Ocean and having to listen to Sonic and Silver's interminable singing. The two of them finished _"We Can"_ not too long ago and have moved onto another possible theme song for their team name, _"Live and Learn."_ The black hedgehog liked that song as well but hearing Sonic and Silver butcher it with their off-key voices made him want to drown himself in the crystal-clear waters.

Sonic and Silver sang the reframe of the famous song, wrapping their arms over their shoulders and walking across the sand. They waved their free hands across the air, expressing their theme song to an imaginary audience.

They were unaware that the Ultimate Life Form couldn't stand the butchering of an infamous song.

But something else made his ears flicker; the sound of a jet engine distracted him from the horrible singing. Sonic and Silver turned around, making guitar noises and moving their fingers as if they were holding electric guitars. They both pulled their hands back and pointed at Shadow.

"Take it away, Shadow!" Sonic shouted.

"Shh!" Shadow snarled at the two hedgehogs.

"Shadow, those aren't the words, you silly goose," Sonic chuckled.

"Seriously, shut up!" Shadow shushed the hedgehogs. "Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Silver inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"Listen," Shadow replied.

The trio of hedgehogs turned to the side, listening to the sound of whatever Shadow was hearing. The engine-like noise sounded like an airplane, but it also sounded like an actual jet. All three of them looked each other, wondering what the noise could be. Then suddenly, Silver tapped Sonic on the shoulder and pointed to the left. Sonic and Shadow looked in that direction and saw a streak of smoke shooting across the sky.

A little figure was spotted behind the clouds, it suddenly turned around and began skydiving towards the three hedgehogs.

The figure was a small as a spec, making it difficult for the hedgehogs to identify it.

"What is that?" Silver asked, rubbing his head.

Sonic squinted his eyes, but when he did that, he was able to figure out what the flying projectile was. "Look out!" he shouted to his peers. All three heroes jumped out of the way before a large object crashed into the ground. A shock wave of blue energy sent the three hedgehogs flying across the air.

Shadow and Silver landed on their feet, skidding across the sand, Sonic fell on his face.

The blue hedgehog jumped up, brushing himself off. He snarled at Silver for not catching him before a looming shadow caught his eye. Behind a dust cloud was a silhouette of an old enemy.

"Metal Sonic!" Shadow growled.

The figure emerged from the shadows, revealing his true identity.

"What the!?" Sonic gasped. "Mecha Sonic?" _**(1)**_

Dr. Eggman's oldest creation, Mecha Sonic, was standing right in front of the three hedgehogs. Sonic was shocked to see a classic villain from his past make a dramatic return. He was told by Tails that G-merl took him down two days ago, but he never expected Mecha to come back. The robotic hedgehog glared at his doppelganger, his red visor glowed a bright red color.

"Hey, Mecha. Haven't seen you since Sky Sanctuary," Sonic smiled, gesturing to the old robot. "How ya been, man?"

Silver and Shadow didn't bother to engage in playful banter with the robot. Instead, they decided to fight against him. Mecha Sonic got into position and boosted towards the two hedgehogs.

Shadow pulled his arm back, ready to chuck a Chaos Spear, but Mecha grabbed Shadow's arm and held him in a tight grip. Shadow threw a punch with his free hand, but Mecha blocked his fist in the process, hitting his chest with his steel knee. Mecha then flipped Shadow over, slamming his face into the dirt.

Silver volley kicked the robot's face, but what he didn't expect was Mecha grabbing his foot. The robotic hedgehog spun the white hedgehog as fast as he could before chucking him straight into a beach but. Wooden planks and food condiments were destroyed because of that impact. Mecha then focused his visor on Sonic, who was running right towards him.

"Where's Egghead!?" Sonic snarled. "Why doesn't he just come and fight me himself!?"

Sonic punched Mecha across his face.

Mecha fired back by extending his claws; he swiped at the hedgehog, but Sonic ducked underneath the attack. He wasn't scratched, however, Mecha did slice off a piece of fur on Sonic's head. The hedgehog rubbed his head, trying to make the non-furry spot unnoticeable.

"Oh. Right. You can't talk," Sonic rubbed his head, dodging another one of Mecha's attacks. "I'm shocked that Eggman didn't give you a voice chip like he did with Metal. You think he would want you to go more than just _'be-boop, be-boop'_ because this is a major downgrade."

Mecha Sonic hacked and slashed the air, trying to hit Sonic, but because of the hedgehog's super speed, it was hard to land a good hit on him. All Sonic did was nonchalantly evade to the side, continuing his quirky humor.

"I mean, if the Doc didn't want you getting distracted by battle banter... it didn't really work," Sonic smiled.

Mecha Sonic looked confused before he realized what Sonic had meant. Silver wrapped a cyan field around the robot's body, giving Shadow a chance to attack him with his brute strength.

Mecha slid across the ground, face first. He got back up and clenched his fists. Silver caught him back in another psychic field.

"Nice work, Silver," Sonic said. "Oh, and you were pretty good too, Shadow,"

Shadow rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"You guys okay?" Sonic asked.

"I'll hold Mecha," Silver said, keeping his concentration on trapping Mecha. "You and Shadow attack him-!" _**(1s)**_

Suddenly, a wormhole opened up below Mecha Sonic's body; the robotic hedgehog retreated by jumping inside the portal. Sonic, Silver, and Shadow widened their eyes and dropped their jaws. How did Mecha Sonic open up a wormhole like that?

Suddenly, a dark, new, voice spooked the three hedgehogs from above. The three of them looked up and saw another dark figure standing on top of a grassy hill. The anonymous person jumped down and revealed himself; it was Dr. Starline.

The platypus opened his wormhole again; Mecha Sonic landed right beside him.

"Gentlemen," Dr. Starline smiled. He could tell the three hedgehogs were flabbergasted.

"Who is this?" Shadow snarled.

"Looks like he's controlling that wormhole," Sonic stroked his chin. "Not gonna lie, this is a first for me. All right, Mr. Platypus dude. I've got some questions and I'm willing to bet _you're_ gonna answer them for me!"

"Very astute," Dr. Starline bowed. "I am _Dr. Starline_ : Dr. Eggman's newest and greatest general."

"And why did he send you here?" Sonic smirked.

"He didn't. I wanted to meet you… _experience_ you for myself." Dr. Starline replied with a cold smile. "The Blue Blur! Hero across time and space! The only being alive to be able to stand up to the overwhelming might and brilliance of Dr. Eggman through sheer skill alone! Can I measure up? Can I complete my objective with you in my way? Everything about this encounter has been constructed to be the ultimate test of our abilities and willpower!"

Silver sat for a moment of silence. "Wow, that was… questionable."

"At least you're giving me straight answers," Sonic replied to Dr. Starline's creepy speech. "So, tell me, Dr. Starlight. What's Egghead up to?"

"I don't want to spoil much," Dr. Starline answered, tapping his fingers together. "But let's just say… the doctor has big plans for the new guy in town."

* * *

Knuckles and Rouge were sitting in the elevator of the President's White House, on their way to meet the President, Commander Tower, and Brenda because they have proof they Big the Cat is a hero and that Synergy just manipulated him to join his army. The two have picked up Omochao from Empire City, meaning they were one step closer to fulfilling their plan.

"I really appreciate you guys coming to me for help," Omochao said in a happy tone. "Everybody always thinks of me as an annoying, fact-spewing, machine, but it really warms my circuits to know that you guys came to me."

"No problem," Knuckles replied. "You have videos of Big performing heroic acts, right?"

"Si, Commander!" Omochao saluted the Resistance leader.

"Good," Knuckles replied.

"Let's hope this works better than Operation: Big Wave," Rouge said.

"You had to bring that up, didn't you?" Knuckles replied with a growl.

The elevator stopped at the top floor; the doors opened. Knuckles, Rouge, and Omochao walked down a hallway with a red velvet carpet scattering the floor. Pictures of past presidents of the United Federation were plastered on the walls. There also images of the United Federation's flag as well as pictures of the current president taking selfies with Sonic and Shadow. Sonic and the President were smiling, Shadow was in the background, facepalming himself.

It didn't take them long for them to meet two G.U.N. agents guarding the President's office door. Rouge smiled at the two men, as they opened the doors and let them in.

As soon as the trio walked inside, they were greeted to a large round table. Almost everyone from G.U.N. and Congress were present in this room. The President was sitting at the end of the table. Commander Abraham Tower was on his left, Brenda was on his right; she was painting her nails.

Knuckles and Rouge kindly took a seat across the president; eyes of congressmen and G.U.N. soldiers were starring right at them. Omochao waved awkwardly, looking at the President.

"Good morning, Commander Knuckles," the President smiled. He kindly got up from his seat and walked to the commander. Knuckles did the same thing. The two of them shook hands. "It's nice to see you here today."

"Likewise, Mr. President," Knuckles said. "I'm glad you can meet us here. We have some important matters to discuss."

"And what would those matters be?" the President walked back to his seat and asked. Commander Tower looked at Rouge, unaware of what she was planning.

"This morning, you declared a National Emergency because of Synergy's attack last night, yes?" Rouge questioned.

"Yes, he did," Brenda spoke for the President. "That robot and that cat nearly killed us all!"

"Hey, do not talk over the president!" Commander Tower slammed the table, sneering at the reporter.

"Please, everyone. This is a humble meeting, no violence will be tolerated," said the President in a tender tone. Brenda and Commander Tower apologized for their behavior. "To answer your question, Agent Rouge, Yes, I did. I was told by Commander Tower that Synergy and Big were friends. Was that correct?"

"I did tell him that Big was briefly associated with Synergy," Rouge said. "However, that was before I found out the robot was lying to Big, telling him nothing but lies just to keep him on his side. In other words, Big the Cat is Synergy's hostage."

"That's not what I was told," Brenda said.

"Yeah, because you exaggerated the whole thing to increase viewership members," Knuckles said.

Brenda rolled her eyes. "You got proof that this cat's a hero?"

"As a matter of fact, we do," Knuckles replied with a grin. "Ladies and Gentlemen of Congress, it's my pleasure to introduce, Omochao."

"Good morning, Mr. President," Omochao kindly gestured. "My name is Omochao. I have evidence that proves Commander Knuckles and Agent Rouge's valid. If you would just allow me to access my database, I can pull up a vide of-Press the X button to jump."

The room fell into a dead silence.

"What did he say?" Brenda asked.

"Press the X button to jump," Omochao said again. Something was wrong with him.

Knuckles and Rouge glanced at each other nervously. Why did this have to happen now?

"Hold on one second," Knuckles said. He grabbed Omochao and placed him on the table. "What's wrong with you, man? Get a hold of yourself!"

"Move the left analog stick to run forward, you dingus," Omochao said. "Use the circle button to find a bounce pad."

"Sorry, folks," Rouge awkwardly waved. "Give us a second."

Knuckles and Rouge flipped Omochao over, opening up his back compartment. Nothing but complicated circuitry and wiring spooked the echidna. He fished through Omochao's back, looking for a possible reset button. "Where's your off switch?" he grunted.

The President exchanged a look of confusion with Commander Tower, Brenda, and everyone in the house.

Knuckles finally found a reset button and turned it on. "There we go!" he said. He watched Omochao reboot into his default mode. "Omochao, what did you want to say to the President?"

Omochao turned to the President, giving him a cheeky smile.

Knuckles and Rouge smiled at each other, knowing this plan was going to work.

The President and Congress all squinted at the robotic Chao, leaning forward to hear what he wanted to say.

The Chao finally said something he'd been wanting to get off his chest. "Press the X button to jump,"

"That's it!" Knuckles snarled. Steam was coming right out of his ears and his face was more red than his fur. He grabbed Omochao by the neck and slammed him on the floor. Knuckles then leaned down and began punching Omochao in the face, hearing nothing but that incantation run through the back of his head. He picked the Chao back up and slammed him in the table, ripping all the circuits out of his systems.

Knuckles grabbed Omochao and ripped him in half.

"Press the X button to kill Omochaaaooooooo…" the Chao shut down after he was brutally murdered by Knuckles. Speaking of which, the echidna heavily panted after his temper tantrum, but he was unaware of the consequences of his actions. Not only was Rouge mad at him for losing his temper, but all of Congress and G.U.N. were shocked.

All that proof of Big being a hero was gone.

Knuckles gave a cheeky smile to the President. He reached into Hammerspace and pulled out a Resistance themed T-shirt with a weird picture of Sonic on the front. "Anyone want to buy a Sanic shirt?"

* * *

 _ **(2)**_ Sonic went leaped off a boardwalk and charged around the corner. He, Shadow, and Silver were about to fight against Mecha Sonic and Dr. Starline. The robotic hedgehog super-charged his jet booster, boosting right for his doppelganger; Dr. Starline adjusted his glasses and placed his hands together.

"It will take more than speed to measure up to this new and improved Mecha Sonic," Dr. Starline said. "He's been upgraded by the Doctor to predict your every move,"

Mecha Sonic tackled the Blue Blur, smashing him into a beach hut. Wooden planks and blocks shot into the air. Sonic kicked the robot off him, but Mecha was able to slam Sonic's head against the ground. Shadow teleported behind the robot in an attempt to stab him with a Chaos Spear, but Mecha grabbed Shadow's hand, spun him around, and chucked him into a row of beach chairs and umbrellas.

Sonic and Shadow quickly recovered, rushing over to Mecha Sonic.

Silver flew through the air; his hands were glowing. He wanted to land a shot on Mecha. "Sonic, Shadow, move! I'll get him!"

Mecha grabbed both Sonic and Shadow by their necks, kicking them up in the air. The two hedgehogs crashed into Silver. They all tumbled vertically upward before they re-balanced themselves. Shadow and Sonic grabbed onto Silver's feet.

"He's too fast for you to focus on him," Sonic told Silver.

"That Doctor was right, he knows our every move," Shadow said. "There has to be a way for Silver to grab him."

"How about I _don't_ grab him," Silver suggested.

Using his hands, Silver wrapped a physic force field around Mecha's body, trapping him in a tiny barricade. Mecha bashed his hands against the cyan circle, but he wasn't strong enough to break Silver'c concentration. Silver then lifted Mecha into the sky and chucked him over his shoulder. The robotic hedgehog went flying across the sky, unaware of where he'll land.

" _Ha-ha!_ Nice!" Sonic smiled, giving Silver a thumbs up.

Sonic, Shadow, and Silver landed on the ground; Dr. Starline was the only villain left standing. All three hedgehogs rushed towards him.

"That was a high-quality piece of Eggman technology!" Dr. Starline shouted in anger, clenching his fists.

"And it comes with a complimentary, high-quality, butt-kicking!" Sonic retorted, he and his friends lunged at Starline.

But the platypus fought dirty, meaning that he opened up a wormhole and sent the three hedgehogs to another location. The wormhole opened, spitting the trio behind Starline. Sonic fell into the ground, Shadow fell on top of Sonic, Silver fell on top of Shadow.

"Get off me!" Shadow snarled, pushing Silver off him. He summoned a golden spear and chucked it at Starline. "Chaos Spear!"

Dr. Starline opened a portal and portal and the Chaos Spear vanished.

"What?" Shadow asked. The Chaos Spear re-appeared behind him, striking him in the back. " _Argh!_ " _**(2s)**_

The black hedgehog landed against the sand, face-first. _**(3)**_

Sonic recovered from his takedown and curled into a ball. Spin dashing across the sand, he leaped forward and homing attacked Dr. Starline, sending himself through another one of his portals. This time, he wound up landing in the middle of the ocean. A massive splash came from the other side, splashing Dr. Starline in the face.

"Oh, no!" Silver cried in worry. He jumped through the wormhole to save Sonic. The dimensional hole sealed closed.

"Two down, one to go," Dr. Starline chuckled, watching Shadow get back on his feet.

" _Grr!_ " Shadow grunted, skating towards the Aspiring Villain. "Behold my ultimate power!"

The Ultimate Life Form saw that Dr. Starline activated another wormhole with his Warp Topaz, but the black blur had a trick up his sleeve. He vanished away from the area, surprising the grey-furred platypus.

"What the?" Dr. Starline gasped, shutting down his wormhole. "Where did he- "

Shadow appeared out of nowhere and kicked Starline in his chest, sending him skyrocketing into the air. Shadow then teleported above him, smashing him to the ground with both of his fists. The black hedgehog vanished and reappeared beside the inexperienced villain. Pulling his foot back, he kicked Starline, sending him flying into a tropical palm tree. The force of Starline's impact against the tree caused it to topple down against the sand and grass; flakes of sand shot upward before landing on the ground. Shadow appeared before the platypus, grabbing him by the collar.

"You're just as worthless as a jackal I fought a while ago," Shadow snarled, he could see the seat puring down Starline's forehead. The platypus shivered; his teeth chattered at the sight of the black hedgehog's blood-colored eyes. "Now, you're going to tell me where Dr. Eggman is or else…"

"Or else what?" Starline said in fear.

Shadow removed one hand from Starline's collar, summoning a Chaos Spear. "I think you can figure it out," he growled.

He was about to get some information out of the scientist before Mecha Sonic returned from his defeat, tackling the hedgehog and pinning him against a tree. Shadow kicked Mecha's face before upper-cutting him up his chin. Just as he threw another punch, the mindless drone caught his fist, trapping him in an arm-lock.

Shadow used his free hand to hit Mecha three times; it didn't do much damage to the latter.

Mecha lifted Shadow off the ground and punched him four times in his face and chest. He spun Shadow around, throwing him into another tree. Coconuts and apples fell on Shadow's head.

Mecha boosted over to Shadow and kicked him into the tree, causing the tropical plant to fall to the ground; Shadow fell right on top of the tree.

"Chaos Spe- " Shadow coughed; he tried to get another Chaos Spear but Mecha attacked him before he did so. As a solution to his problem, Shadow teleported out of Mecha's sight, appearing behind him in the blink of an eye. He then shot him into the air with a Chaos Snap; a move where he quickly punched and kicked Mecha while warping.

"Piece of scrap!" Shadow shouted, beating Mecha to a pulp.

Mecha interrupted Shadow's momentum by hitting him in the chest. The latter rolled across the sand before Mecha chased after him; he was going faster than the speed of sound thanks to his own Spinball form. Shadow got up and evaded Mecha like a man avoiding a wild bull.

"Where are Sonic and Silver when you need them!?" Shadow snarled, jumping over Mecha again. "Will those two idiots come help me already!?" _**(3s)**_

* * *

In the middle of the ocean, a humble fisherman was enjoying a peaceful time fishing for some food, when all of a sudden, Sonic and Silver washed up on his boat. The latter saved the former from drowning in the water, so now, they decided to take a few second rest in order to plan out their next attack.

But it looked like Sonic didn't want to discuss battle tactics. Since his fur was soaking wet again, he jumped on Silver's head, trying to hug his good friend.

The fisherman stared at the heroes. He had no idea what was going on.

"Sonic, get off me!" Silver shouted.

"No way, man!" Sonic yelled back. "I'm not getting wet again!"

"It's okay, Sonic," Silver said calmly, letting Sonic get off his head. The two of them wobbled when they were on the boat. "I got you, are you okay?"

"Y-yeah… s-sorry," Sonic apologized for his freak out. "If there's one thing you know about me, it's that I absolutely _hate_ water!"

"Really?" Silver joked sarcastically. "I didn't notice… but in all seriousness, where are we?"

"Judging from the lack of land, I'd say we're in the middle of the ocean. Starline must have scouted the area beforehand."

"How do we get back?"

Sonic rubbed his nose and cracked his fingers. He smirked, "Grab on, I'll take us back there!"

Silver wrapped a cyan rope around Sonic with his powers; the Fastest Thing Alive charged up his speed. "Question: Wouldn't it be faster if I flew us back?" Silver asked. Suddenly, Sonic jumped off the boat and carried Silver on the water. The former was running across the water; waves splashed all around the sides while Silver was surfing across the sea. He felt like he was riding a Mobian jet ski. "Nope, this is faster. Much faster."

* * *

Mecha grabbed Shadow by his neck and slammed him against the sand. Shadow wrapped his legs around Mecha's neck, punching him rapidly. Mecha grabbed the hedgehog and chucked him into the ground. Shadow bounced up and down the sand before landing on his chest.

Starline chuckled, rubbing his fingers together. He and Mecha were about to take Shadow hostage, but before they could, they heard something come from their right.

Mecha turned around and saw a blue orb of energy dashing right for him; it was Sonic the Hedgehog. The Hero of Mobius tucked into a ball and penetrated through Mecha Sonic with ease. Silver accidentally flew forward because of the sudden transition from water to land. He fell on his face in the sand.

A large explosion marked the end of classic villain; Mecha Sonic was completely destroyed.

Silver, brushing the sand off his face, ran up to Shadow, who was laying on his stomach. "Shadow!" he shouted in concern. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Shadow coughed. Silver wrapped Shadow's arm around his neck. The black hedgehog coughed again. "Thank you,"

"Don't mention it," Silver replied.

Sonic suddenly homing attacked Dr. Starline's face, knocking him down. He uncurled from his ball state and cornered Starline. Shadow and Silver did the same thing.

"Miss me?" he asked. His cheeky smile turned into an evil grin; a bit of fire was in the green of his eyes.

" _Ha-ha!"_ Dr. Starline nervously chuckled. "How-!? I thought you were- "

"My name is _'Sonic.'_ I'm made of _'Goes Fast.'_ Eggman details. Now!"

"Ha! There's nothing you can do against the Eggman Empire! Once Lord Eggman gets his hands on that Gizoid, Planet Mobius shall bow down before him! You'll never stop him in time!"

Sonic, Silver, and Shadow exchanged nervous glances.

"The next time you see me, Sonic," Dr. Starline cackled. "I'll be the newest soldier in the Eggman Empire. Mwa-hahahahahahahahaha!"

The Warp Topaz summoned a wormhole in the ground; Dr. Starline fell through the portal, vanishing from sight. The three hedgehogs were now left alone.

"Great," Silver said, rolling his eyes. "Eggman's got himself another minion."

"As if we needed more weight on our shoulders," Shadow moaned, coughing.

"It's all right, guys," Sonic said, helping Silver carry Shadow on their shoulders. "Let's just head back to Resistance HQ. Everyone else's gonna wanna hear about this."

* * *

"Dr. Eggman," said Orbot. He, Cubot, and Dr. Eggman were still spying on the purple cat and the evil Gizoid. Rough and Tumble were following close behind their new master. "I just got word from Dr. Starline. He and Mecha Sonic were defeated by Sonic and his friends."

"I should have known better than to send that old Super Badnik with him," Dr. Eggman replied with disgust. "At least Metal Sonic is done with his upgrades, I have a plan for him."

"Hey! What about us!?" Rough complained. He and his brother wanted some action. "Can we get a turn at those goody too shoes Freedom Fighters?"

 _I can't believe I forgot about these idiots,_ Dr. Eggman said in his mind. He then snapped his fingers, getting an idea. "Rough, Tumble, you say you want to get revenge on Sonic, do you?"

"Yeah!" Tumble nodded with a grin, clapping his fists together. "He's gonna pay for wrecking my kingdom!"

"You mean _'our'_ kingdom!" Rough snarled.

"Same difference, doofus!" Tumble retorted.

"Do not worry, you too!" Dr. Eggman said, reaching into his pocket, taking out two blue prints. He handed them to the skunk brothers. The brothers looked at the designs, confused.

"What the heck are these?" Rough asked.

"Are these written in Italian?" Tumble inquired.

"Flip them over, dullards," Dr. Eggman nonchalantly insulted them.

Rough and Tumble did just that, looking at the real designs.

"Oh, I see it now!" Rough smiled.

"Nice use of brown," Tumble nodded in agreement.

Dr. Eggman cackled at the top of his lungs, rubbing his hands together. "I got big plans for you, Sonic the Hedgehog, just you wait and see! Mwa-hahahahahahahahahahaha!"

The doctor began coughing after laughing.

"Sheesh!" Dr. Eggman coughed again. "I really need a drink."

 _ **END OF CHAPTER 15**_

* * *

 _Dr. Starline may have failed to defeat Dr. Eggman's arch-nemesis, but it looks like Rough and Tumble have a plan of their own. They plan to strike back against the Resistance and it will be a more sinister plan than the one before. Find out as they extract their revenge against Sonic in the next chapter. We will also the see the reveal of the final IDW Exclusive character for this story in "Chapter 16: Tangled."_

* * *

 ** _POST-A/N:_**

 _Mecha Sonic made a small cameo in Chapter 2. He was in the scene where G-merl showed up to Sylvania Castle to report to Tails, Amy, Mighty, and Ray that he took down the Badniks that helped Eggman capture Cream. He was originally meant to just be a cameo and as a fun little nod to the classic days, but after reading a certain tale called "The Illusionary Resistance" by Infinite's Ruby, which has Mecha Sonic as one of the villains, I decided to give him a small introduction. Metal Sonic's upgrade will be revealed soon though. I have a plan for him._

 _Omochao… yeah, he messed up. But Knuckles messed up just as bad. I made that scene as a nod to everyone who threw Omochao off the stage in every level in Sonic Adventure 2._

 _Whisper was supposed to make her return here and interact with Silver, but I decided to hold that off for another chapter. I haven't forgotten about her, don't worry._

 _Most of the scenes here were inspired by IDW Sonic the Hedgehog Issue #14, which has the first confrontation between Sonic and Dr. Starline. That issue is one of my favorite issues from IDW Sonic. I love Archie Sonic (Reboot Archie Sonic) but I am loving IDW Sonic just as much!_

 _I think you can figure out who the final IDW character is for this next chapter. It's not only a reference to the character, but it also references a movie. Can you guess what the movie is?_

 _Don't forget to leave a review, fav, and follow if you're interested in seeing more. Thank you for joining me for over **15 chapters, 70 reviews, and over 2,000 views!** You guys are way past cool! I'm the Sensational SpiderDom321, signing off!_

 _~SD321 (SpiderDom321)_


	16. Tangled

_**A/N:** I want to thank TGN and Infinite's Ruby for their reviews for the last chapter. I would also like to say to people who are fans of my other story, Sonic Heroes: The Atom Bomb. That story is not dead. I am taking a break from it to finish this, however, Chapter 8 of that fic will update later this month. Just in case anyone thought it was cancelled, nope! It's still up and running!_

 ** _Suggested Music:_**

 ** _(1) Unfriendly Skies - VS. Hobgoblin - Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions OST_**

 ** _(2) Sinister Shadows - Kingdom Hearts 2 OST_**

 ** _(3) Something That I Want - Disney's Tangled OST_**

 ** _(4) Vs Pure Darkness - Kingdom Hearts OST_**

 ** _(5) Combat #8 - TMNT: Out of the Shadows OST_**

 ** _(6) Egg Cerberus/Genesis - Sonic the Hedgehog 2006 OST_**

 _Without further ado, enjoy the show!_

* * *

 **Tangled**

"Wait, what happened?" Tails asked Sonic. The three hedgehogs (Sonic, Shadow, and Silver) returned from the fight with Dr. Starline and Mecha Sonic in Wave Ocean. They were explaining to Tails, Amy, the Chaotix, Mighty, and Ray the situation that occurred not too long ago.

"A platypus named Dr. Starline showed up and tried to kill us," Shadow replied. "He claims to be the Doctor's new general."

"I somehow knew Dr. Eggman would be involved in all of this," Mighty said. "Speaking of which, was Dr. Eggman there too?"

"Nope," Silver shook his head. "It was just Starline and Mecha Sonic. We asked what Eggman was up to, but Starline didn't give us a clear answer. However, he did say that he and Eggman had big plans for the new guy in town."

"He was probably talking about Synergy," Amy said.

"Great!" Vector waved his arms in the air and snarled. "First, we fail to catch Synergy. Next, Big is a hostage. Then, Eggman gets a new lackey, and now they're going after Synergy. Can this day get any worse!?"

Suddenly, Knuckles and Rouge entered the meeting room. The Resistance turned to them, happy to see their friends after they've spent a while looking for Omochao and talking to Congress. However, the two were anything but pleased; Rouge was mad, and Knuckles was too. Everyone noticed this and wondered what happened.

"Knuckles, Rouge," Tails said. "Glad to see you guys!"

"How was the meeting?" Espio inquired. "Were you guys able to clear Big's name?"

Knuckles and Rouge didn't respond.

"Why the glum faces?" Sonic asked, raising an eyebrow.

Rouge shook her head in frustration, folding her arms. Knuckles nervously reached behind him and pulled out the damaged robot parts of Omochao. Nothing but circuitry, wires, and computer chips were in the echidna's hands. The only part of Omochao left… was his head. Knuckles placed the body parts on the table.

Every member of the Resistance had the same look on their faces: Shock.

"What happened!?" Amy asked.

"Ask… _him!_ " Rouge snarled, pointing at the Commander with her finger. Knuckles shamefully sighed.

"I might have… destroyed Omochao," Knuckles said.

" _YOU WHAT!?_ " the Resistance shouted together.

"Knuckles, did you not know how much we needed that proof!?" Tails shouted.

"Well, he ticked me off!" Knuckles retorted, motioning to the broken robot. "He kept telling me to push some freakin' X button! What button!? I didn't see a button!?" he looked at Rouge. "Did you see a button!? _NO! There was_ _ **no X Button**_ _!_ "

"Way to go, Knucklehead," Sonic snarled, rolling his eyes. "You just destroyed our one chance of saving Big and getting G.U.N. on our side. Some Commander you are!"

"Hey! Shut up, Sonic!" Knuckles growled. "I made a mistake!"

"A mistake that costed us everything!"

"I'm sorry, okay! I'm sorry! How was I supposed to know Omochao would glitch out like that!?"

"I know you couldn't predict that, but was breaking him apart really necessary!? I thought being the Commander of the Resistance would give you a dose of common sense!"

Knuckles clapped his fists together, ready to punch Sonic. The Blue Blur was ready to do the same to Angel Island's Guardian. As they two of them prepared to square off, Mighty and Espio intervened.

"May we remind you of the _real task_ at hand here?" Espio said, gently pushing Sonic away from Knuckles.

"Like I said earlier," Mighty said. "What's done is done, we have to learn to accept that. Do I think Knuckles could have handled the situation in an appropriate matter? Yes. But we gotta learn from our mistakes and get better. Knuckles, Sonic's just focused on rescuing Big. Sonic, Omochao's annoying, cut Knux some slack."

Sonic and Knuckles looked at each other forma brief moment.

"Sorry," Knuckles sighed, closing his eyes.

"Yeah, you are!" Sonic mumbled under his breath.

Mighty and Espio gave Sonic dirty stares.

Sonic took a deep breath. "Sorry, Knux."

 _ **KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! BASH!**_

The door opened. A male cat wearing a Resistance uniform rushed into the room. Knuckles and his team turned to the petrified feline.

"What's the matter, Kyle?" Knuckles asked.

"Dr. Eggman is attacking!" Kyle the orange cat panicked. "Badniks are attacking the city!"

"Now?" Charmy asked. "Do you all think he knows where we are?"

"We'll find out soon enough!" Amy replied, gathering the team together. "Come on, team! Let's do it to it!" _**(1)**_

* * *

Green Hill City was under attack from Eggman's Badniks and the Resistance weren't having fun dealing with that.

Eggman's forces haven't attacked the place since the War happened. The Resistance has spent the last few months of the reconstruction era. All of that hard work they put into rebuilding the city had gone to waste because Dr. Eggman just _had_ to invade the peaceful town.

Knuckles, Amy, and the Resistance ran down Sunset Heights; an army of Badniks were lined up in their sight. This was Sonic's cue to step forward; he boosted into the streak of Egg Pawns with ease. He, Knuckles, and Amy lead the Resistance down another section of the town.

They turned around a corner and ran up the stairs to the upper part of the town. From there, they saw an army of Buzz Bombers that lead to a zip-line that would take someone to an upper platform, and there was an armada of Egg Pawns that were blocking the normal way down the road.

As the Resistance fought off the Badniks, civilians opened their windows with their Wispons in their hands. They aimed them downward and started shooting at the countless Badniks trying to invade their home.

Sonic and Tails noticed the bravery of the townsfolk. To which they gave them a cheer.

"We got this, Sonic!" shouted a male dog. "Go!"

"Green Hill City's on your side, guys!" a female poodle added to that comment. "Go get em', Team Resistance!"

"Thank you, everyone!" Tails smiled. He, Sonic, and the others ran on ahead.

As they blasted through the enemies with ease, they quickly noticed that one of their toughest enemies during the war has returned; large black-and-silver-colored Death Egg Robots.

"What the heck!?" Vector cried. "A whole army of Death Egg Robots!"

"Oh, no!" Charmy squealed. "There's so many of them!"

"I personally like to call them Egg Sentinels," Tails pointed. Everyone looked at him awkwardly. "What? Reusing the Death Egg name is just lazy."

"It doesn't matter how many there are!" Sonic gave his teammates a cocky grin. "We'll light em' up and burn em' down! What's your plan, Commander!"

"Mighty, Ray, you and Silver cover Park Avenue. Team Chaotix, you and Amy will cover Sunset Heights. Shadow, Rouge, and I will defend Splash Highway. Sonic, Tails, you two cover everything else! Start with Ghost Town and Viaduct Valley!" Knuckles gave commands to his teammates. "Go get them, guys!" _**(1s)**_

 _ **(2)**_ Everyone split up to their designated places; Sonic and Tails continued down their pathway.

Turning to the right, the two climbed up the side of a building, reaching the very top. But as soon as they got there, a whole army of Flappers, Spinas, and Camerons; Badniks that looked like Turtles, stood in their way.

The Camerons loaded their canons and shot rings of light green energy at the duo. To which they dodged with ease. Sonic and Tails grabbed each other's hands and curled into a giant ball; A Rolling Combo. They pierced through the army before uncurling, running and jumping across the rooftops.

In the far distance, they saw Silver lift Mighty in the air with his psychokinesis, chucking him right into the eye of an Egg Sentinel. Mighty blasted through the Badnik before freefalling through the red/orangish sky. Ray the Flying-Squirrel caught him with his tail, lowering him down to safety.

"Your old friends are cool!" Tails smiled at Sonic.

"Thanks!" Sonic replied. "Guess I know how to pick them, don't I?"

"For the most part," Tails chuckled.

Sonic and Tails leaped downward, landing on the battle-ravaged ground.

The warzone got even more plastered with Badniks. Sonic and Tails ran down Ghost Town, avoiding the obstacles that were blocking their way.

"What do you think Eggman could be up to?" Tails inquired, shooting a golden Flapper down with his Arm Cannon.

"Beats me," Sonic replied. "When I fought Dr. Starline on the beach, he told me Eggman had plans for Synergy. Maybe he set this up as a distraction for us."

"Figures. That sounds like something Eggman would do," Tails nodded in agreement. The two of them entered the border of Viaduct Valley. When they got there, Sonic boosted through an army of Egg Pawns again; Tails blasted more Flappers and Camerons out of his sight. "When this is over, can we talk?"

"Sure. Whatcha wanna talk about?" Sonic replied, kicking an Egg Pawn in the face.

"It's… it's…" Tails hesitated to tell Sonic what he told Amy this morning. "It's about that one talk we had two nights ago. You see, I- " _**(2s)**_

"Whoa, hold up!" Sonic stopped in the middle of his tracks. Tails bumped into Sonic's back, not expecting him to stop dead in the middle of the road.

"What's wrong?" Tails asked in concern, cocking his gun. "Super Badnik?"

"Nope," Sonic wrapped his arm around Tails' shoulder, pointing to what he was seeing. "Somebody's here!" _**(3)**_

In the middle of Viaduct Ally, someone was fighting against an army of Slicers and Egg Fighters.

That someone, was a Mobian ring-tailed lemur with white fur and purple eyes. She possessed a small black nose and a long bushy tail with gray stripes. She also had grey fur around her muzzle, between her eyes, and dark gray fur around the sides of her eyes, and on her round ears. She also has extra fur on top of her head and chest, and small tufts on her cheeks.

"Looks like we're not alone," Tails said. The lemur's tail curled into a fist, punching a Badnik's head in. "Did she just curl her tail into a fist!?"

"That's… _**AWESOME!**_ " Sonic shouted with glee.

The lemur wore a short-sleeved black bodysuit with orange stripes down its sides, a yellow sleeveless tube top. And detailed yellow hi-tops with white laces and soles, black details, and orange cuffs. Yellow sports tape was wrapped around her wrist along with fingerless black gloves with orange backings.

The mysterious warrior grabbed an Egg Pawn's face with her tail, wrapping the rest of her tail around the remaining Egg Pawns. She pulled her tail, causing them to explode at the same time.

"Woo!... Ow!" the lemur said. She was both enthusiastic and in pain because her tail burned when it touched the explosions. "Woo and ow!"

An Egg Fighter snuck behind the lemur, ready to strike, but luckily, Sonic entered the ring. He destroyed the Badnik, getting the lemur's attention. Tails ran up and shot a Cameron with his cannon.

"Watch your back!" Sonic said, uncurling from his ball form.

"Whoop, thanks!" said the lemur. "Welcome to my cousin's hometown. Sorry about the mess, we have a bit of a robot problem."

"Problem?" Sonic quipped. "What problem?"

"Ha! You're sweet not to notice," the lemur replied. Sonic and Tails did a Rolling Combo into a row of Egg Fighters. "Nice one, guys! Do this a lot?"

Sonic and Tails landed beside the lemur. She allowed the former to grab onto her tail.

"You can say that," Sonic replied. "Sonic the Hedgehog."

"And I'm Miles Prower, but you can call me Tails!" the kitsune smiled and waved.

"Oh, sweet!" the lemur squealed in response. "Always wanted to meet you guys. Name's Tangle the Lemur, don't wear it out!"

"Charmed," Sonic said.

"Likewise," Tangle replied. She started walking around the Badniks, her tail extended as she walked forward. "Ever since the war ended, I came here to visit some family, but once I saw people grabbing these fancy-looking weapons and rushing into battle, I knew something was up. _Pull!_ "

Sonic yanked Tangle's tail, resulting into him being pushed forward by Tangle's strength. He wiped out the Badniks.

"Yeah, we're sort of after someone that Eggman's after as well," Sonic replied. "It's a long story."

"Let me guess, he set this up as a diversion for you guys, didn't he?" Tangle smirked.

"Yeah, how did you know?" Tails asked.

"I've seen a lot of superhero movies, I know how this works." Tangle said, giving a thumbs up. "The superheroes team up to take down the mad titan. In this case, it's us going up against Eggman. Although, let's just hope Eggman doesn't snap his fingers and wipe half of us out of existence."

"We got ourselves a comic book nerd," Sonic whispered to Tails. The fox chuckled.

"We should find Knuckles and the others," Tails suggested. "They might need our help."

"The rest of the Resistance is here too!?" Tangle asked in amazement; her jaw dropped.

"Yep!" Sonic nodded.

"Mind if I tag along for the ride?" Tangle asked politely yet excitingly.

"If you can keep up," Sonic winked.

The new team of heroes rushed down to defend to rest of Viaduct Ally before heading back to Knuckles and the others. _**(3s)**_

* * *

Meanwhile, in Park Avenue, Mighty, Ray, and Silver were helping civilians defend their hometown from the Eggman Empire.

Balls of fire, dark blue cubes, and sparks of lightning were replete around the area because pedestrians were using their Wispons to fend for themselves. Silver picked an army of Camerons up with his powers, sending them flying into a building. Pieces of rubble fell right on top of other Super Badniks.

Mighty smashed golden Camerons into each other while Ray rolled into a ball and jumped on Badniks like he did in the classic days. All of the Flickies inside the Badniks were set free; they started running for shelter.

"So, you're a telekinetic hedgehog from where again?" Mighty asked the white hedgehog, punching another Egg Pawn with his super strength.

"200 years In the future," Silver replied. "Why?"

"Wait, 200 years, really!?" Mighty's eyes widened. "I know I've made this joke many times before, but what have I missed since Eggman Island!?"

"W-w-wow, two h-hundred years," Ray smiled. "T-t-that's a long t-t-t-time."

"Heck yeah it is, little buddy," Mighty rubbed Ray's head, beaming with happiness. But his positive emotions came to an end as soon as he heard a noise; a dog was barking in the far distance.

"Did somebody lose their dog?" Silver asked.

In the midst of battle, civilians heard the sound of a dog barking somewhere in the battlefield. They all stopped firing at the Badniks and listened to the sound. The bark sounded like a mixture of a wild dog mixed in with some evil cackles. Mighty, Ray, and Silver looked at each other. They wondered what the noise could be.

Their answer came to them in the form of the return of two foes they never met before. _**(4)**_

Out of the shadows came a massive mechanism built by Dr. Eggman. It was a large, black and red dog-like robot with a red head antenna. The ferocious beast had three heads, resembling a Cerberus, with razor-sharp fangs. On the very top of the Cerberus were two Egg Mobiles that sat the two pilots; Rough and Tumble.

"Out of the way, folks!" Rough shouted.

"Get ready to fumble!" Tumble added.

" _It's payback time for_ _ **Rough and Tumble!**_ " the skunk brothers rhymed together.

Mighty cringed once he heard that rhyme. "Did they just rhyme?"

"R-r-r-r-r-run, Mighty!" Ray screamed at the top of his lungs. He extended his wings and flew away from the rampaging dog.

"Ray, wait!" Mighty ran after his little brother. The civilians retreated away from the Egg-Cerberus; the giant mech barked as the wannabe fighters. Rough and Tumble steered the dog towards Mighty and Ray; it's three heads kept barking and growling. Silver followed close behind the armadillo and the squirrel, he too was scared of that giant canine.

* * *

Amy and Team Chaotix got finished with taking care of the Badniks in Sunset Heights when they suddenly heard the screams and shouts of Ray the Flying-Squirrel.

"Run, guys!" he shouted. "R-r-r-r-r-run for you l-l-l-l-lives!"

The Egg-Cerberus emerged from behind Silver, Mighty, and Ray, running after them on all four of its legs.

"Whoa! Bad dog!" Charmy screamed.

"Down boy! Down!" Vector cupped his hands and shouted. He, Espio, Charmy, and Amy took off running. Mighty, Ray, and Silver joined them in a hasty retreat.

They eventually found Knuckles, Shadow, and Rouge in Splash Highway.

"Knuckles!" Amy shouted. " _ **RUN!**_ "

Knuckles, Shadow, and Rouge stopped smashing Badniks, heeding Amy's call. Each of them turned to her and dropped their jaws once they noticed the terrifying mutt chasing her and the others.

"What is that!?" Shadow shouted. Everyone gathered together and evaded to the side. The Egg-Cerberus ran past them, but it stopped as soon as Rough and Tumble saw everyone dodge out of the way. The robot dog stopped in the middle of its tracks, skidding across the ground. It didn't take long for it to stop completely; all six of its eyes were focused on the Freedom Fighters.

"This is why we don't allow puppies in Resistance HQ," Knuckles said to the Resistance.

"Well, well, well, look who it is!" Rough sneered. "Noodles the Enchilada: the guy who wrecked our kingdom!"

"We've been wanting to finish things with you for a long time, punk!" Tumble snarled.

"We only met yesterday!" Knuckles shouted back. "And what are you guys doing with Eggman technology!?"

"Perhaps they're linked to that Starline character Sonic told us about," Amy said.

"Who?" Knuckles asked.

"We'll fill you in later," Amy shook her head.

Rough and Tumble put the Egg-Cerberus into full gear, charging at all of the heroes at full speed. The heroes nodded to each other and charged right for the dog. All of them were going to fight on the Red Gate Bridge on Splash Highway.

"Prepare to get wrecked!" Rough said.

"Prepare to get pummeled!" Tumble added.

The skunk brothers finished their newest rhyme with, " _It's revenge time for_ _ **Rough and Tumble!**_ "

"Did they just try to rhyme _'pummel'_ with _'Tumble?'_ " Espio asked.

"Hey, skunk brothers!" Knuckles shouted. " _ **SHUT UP!**_ "

The combatants engaged into a fight. _**(4s)**_

* * *

 _ **(5)**_ Sonic, Tails, and Tangle ran down the rest of Ghost Town. They were doing nothing but helping people either protect their home or evacuate from the area. Tails and Tangle guided some civilians away from the battle while Sonic joined an army of soldiers into battle.

"Nice work, guys!" Sonic winked at the soldiers. He jumped up and homed in on three Egg Pawns. When he stepped foot on the ground, he looked up at a large Egg Sentinel that was marching right for him. The kit and the lemur ran up to the hedgehog, looking up at the Death Egg Robot marching their way.

"Sheesh!" Tangle gasped. "How big do these guys get!?"

"You'd be surprised," Sonic replied.

"That Sentinel's too out of range for me to shoot it down," Tails said. "But if I can fly you up there, Sonic, we can take it down together."

"Pardon me," Tangle said. She wrapped her fingers around her bushy gray tail. "I know we just met, but if I can offer a suggestion… hop on!"

Sonic and Tails looked at each other. The former gave a cheeky smile; the latter had no idea what Tangle was planning. The ring-tailed lemur tied her tail around a telephone pole and ran to the other side, forming her own personal catapult.

The dynamic duo pressed themselves against the tail, backing up so that way the catapult will launch them higher into the air. Tangle pulled on her tail, giving a thumbs up to the hedgehog and the fox. "Ready, guys!?" she asked.

" _ **YEAH!**_ " Sonic shouted.

" _ **NOT REALLY!**_ " Tails replied.

Despite Tails' skepticism, he and Sonic shot off of the Tangle's tail, shooting across the gloomy red sky. The two of them screamed at the top of their lungs as they felt the wind push heavily against their fur. Tails was screaming out of fear while Sonic was yelling in pure excitement. He raised his hands and formed two fists, screaming, " _Wooooooo hoooooooo!_ "

As soon as the two reached the very top of the Egg Sentinel, the massive Death Egg Drone locked its red eye onto the heroes. It raised its claw back before lunging it forward. Tails grabbed Sonic's hand and flew out of the way, allowing the claw to strike the air.

Tails flew around the Egg Sentinel, avoiding the streak of red energy the robot was shooting from its eye. The laser broke down several buildings, blasting them into smithereens. Thankfully, the residents living within the buildings had already been evacuated, thus preventing their loss.

Tangle released her tail from the pole and watched as Sonic and Tails dodged everything the robot threw at them. She admired the two Freedom Fighters for their bravery and for their agility.

"That is so cool!" she smiled. "I want a flying fox friend who carries me everywhere."

Sonic and Tails avoided the robot one last time before the two of them finally came face-to-face with the drone's eye. Tails then spun Sonic around like a wrecking ball before they pulled off another Team Attack Move.

The Blue Blur spun around the area like a tornado while the Tech Genius did the same thing; the former attacked the robot with various homing attacks while the latter just shot nothing but electric orbs of energy.

The Death Egg Sentinel couldn't handle the amount of damage it was taking because of Sonic and Tails' teamwork. It stepped a few feet back before collapsing onto the ground; a large puff of smoke spewed into the air due to the collision between the robot and the ground. _**(5s)**_

Sonic and Tails returned to where Tangle was standing.

"That was amazing, guys!" Tangle said in excitement. "Is your life always exciting?"

"If I can help it," Sonic grinned. "Yep!"

Suddenly, Sonic's Miles Electric went off. He reached into Hammerspace and pulled it out, answering the call coming from Amy.

"Hey, Amy," he greeted. "What's up?" _**(6)**_

* * *

"Outta the way, chumps!" Tumble shouted. The Egg-Cerberus raised its first head back and snapped its teeth at Amy and waved one of its paws at Silver. It missed them both. Rough and Tumble controlled the dog from their Egg Mobiles, trying to capture the heroes inside one of the heads' sharp fangs.

Knuckles climbed on top of one of the heads and ran up to the top, wanting to make the skunk brothers pay for attacking his home away from home. But as soon as he ran up there, Tumble whipped out a new weapon.

It was a large blue and yellow prosthetic tail.

He smacked the echidna to the side, causing him to fall off the Cerberus' head. Shadow attempted the same thing, but Rough said otherwise.

"So long, Sonic!" Rough shouted, whipping out a weapon of his own. It was a backpack filled with small purple capsules. He launched one of the capsules into Shadow's face; it exploded and covered Shadow in skunk stink. The black hedgehog gasped and started coughing in rage, taking out a Chaos Spear and stabbing the screen that protected Rough and Tumble.

The two skunks startled when they saw the screen crack; the tip of the golden spear was close to touching them. Tumble opened it up and smacked Shadow with his metal tail.

Before Shadow could fall to the ground, Rouge caught him and glided him to safety. She accidentally got a whiff of Shadow's new stench.

"Phew!" Rouge said, disgusted, covering her nose. "You stink!"

"Shut up!" Shadow snarled.

Amy finally took some time to answer Sonic's inquiry. "We're fighting for our lives. Nothing too special."

" _What's going on over there?"_ Sonic asked.

"We figured out two skunks were leading the attack. They're in possession of Eggman's technology," Amy replied. "I have a feeling they're linked to that Starline character you told us about."

" _Rough and Tumble were leading the attack?"_ Sonic raised an eyebrow. _"I thought we'd be done with those boneheads."_

" _They must have been sent by Eggman to keep us distracted,"_ Tails said, rubbing his chin. _"Which could only mean Eggman has either captured Synergy or he's still going after him. I'm hoping for the latter. Who knows what Eggman he could do if he gets ahold of Synergy?"_

" _We're not gonna let that happen!"_ Sonic nodded in agreement with Tails. _"Keep him busy for as long as you can, Amy! We'll be there in a second!"_

"That second better be fast!" Amy said, slashing her hammer against one of the Egg-Cerberus' heads. She smashed her weapon into it before she was smacked to the side by the head itself. She tumbled across the ground, watching as Mighty and Silver worked together against the mech. Ray, Charmy, and Vector grabbed ahold of one of the heads, pinning it down. Espio threw shuriken at the Egg Mobiles housing Rough and Tumble.

Silver grabbed Mighty, flung him upward, and threw him into the Egg-Cerberus' back. The massive canine fell on its stomach because of that attack.

"Come on, you piece of junk!" Rough grumbled. "Get up!"

Tumble pulled both levers. "I got it working, Rough! Let's show these clowns the real kings of the land!"

"Right!" Rough nodded. "Stand down, Resistance!"

"Cause you're about to stumble!" Tumble chuckled.

The skunk brothers did another rhyme, " _The kings of the land are_ _ **Rough and Tumble!**_ "

" _STOP. DOING. THAT!_ " Knuckles and Shadow shouted at the same time. The two of them punched one of the dog's heads in the face. The former dove into its mouth, holding both ends of it up, preventing it from eating him. Shadow chucked a Chaos Spear inside the mouth.

He and Knuckles jumped off, as they watched the left head of the dog explode; only two heads of the Cerberus remained.

"Dang it!" Tumble shouted.

"Nah, it's all right!" Rough said. "Two heads are better than one, right?"

"Yeah, but _three_ is better than _two!_ " Tumble retorted.

"No more messing around!" Rough growled. "Now, you guys asked for it!"

The Egg-Cerberus scratched the ground with its paws, preparing to take charge. It ran across the Red Gate Bridge and charged into the Resistance. Rouge, Shadow, Amy, Silver, and Ray moved out of the way. Knuckles, Team Chaotix, and Mighty grabbed onto the four legs.

The five of them went for a ride as the Egg-Cerberus went back into the city.

" _Crap!_ " Silver shouted. "It's getting away!"

"Silver, language!" Amy scolded Silver. "This is a K rated story!"

"Sorry," Silver rubbed his head.

"Let's get moving!" Shadow said. He and Rouge went ahead to chase after the monster. Ray joined with Amy and Silver. The three of them followed close behind, hoping to save their friends and defeat Rough and Tumble. _**(6s)**_

 _ **END OF CHAPTER 16**_

* * *

 _Great, not only is the Resistance distracted from their mission to rescue Big, but now they have to deal with Rough and Tumble running around the streets with a giant robo-dog! How can things get any worse! Well, actually, things are looking better for the Resistance because the final IDW Exclusive Character: Tangle the Lemur, has officially made her debut in this tale. She may not know a lot about what's going on, but she is willing to do anything to help her new friends in need. But will she and the Resistance be able to take down the skunk brothers by themselves? Or will they need some... Silent Support. If you know what I mean by that._

 _Find out as we get the return of a fan-favorite and the reveal of what's going to happen to G-merl in "Chapter 17: Rough and Tumble's Revenge."_

* * *

 ** _POST-A/N:_**

 _I know we haven't seen G-merl, Cream, Blaze, and the new character: Goat, since Chapter 13. They're going to come back. The same thing goes for Whisper the Wolf. I'm not forgetting about her either._

 _A lot of Kingdom Hearts influence went into this fight. A lot of the fight scenes in here are inspired by that game. I am not a huge fan of the franchise, meaning I care more about the gameplay than the story, but I really LOVE the gameplay. Smacking the heck out Heartless and Disney villains like Hades, Pete, Maleficent, Jafar, Ursula, and others is so much fun! I love Kingdom Hearts as a game, but it is has a super complicated plot. (Yeah, like no one's heard that before.)_

 _The title of this chapter is not only a reference to Tangle the Lemur, but it is also a reference to one of the most popular Disney movies of all time, Tangled. That is one of my personal favorite Disney movies of all time. I can watch it any day._

 _Blaze doesn't appear in this like she does in IDW Sonic Issue #4, I plan to have her stick around with Cream and G-merl for now until... well, that's all I will say for now._

 _As always, don't forget to leave a review, point out any errors if I made any, fav, follow, etc. I'm the Sensational SpiderDom321 and I'll see you all next time!_

 _~SD321 (SpiderDom321)_


	17. Rough and Tumble's Revenge

_**A/N:** Sorry for the delay with this chapter. I was working on some personal Stop Motion movies, my Mario Odyssey story, and chapter eight of Sonic Heroes: The Atom Bomb (My Sonic Forces story). That, and I feel like I've gone a little overboard with this story's updates recently, so I apologize for that. Anyways, today is a very special day because not only do we get to see what happens between the Resistance and Rough and Tumble, but we also see... the reveal of the mysterious caller Knuckles has been talking about since Chapter 3. For those who voted on that poll a long time ago, the results are..._

 _Shade the Echidna - 4 votes_

 _Julie-Sue - 2 votes_

 _Blaze the Cat - 1 vote_

 _Mama Luigi - 1 vote_

 _Whoever voted for Mama Luigi gave me a good laugh. That was meant as a joke._

 ** _Suggested Music:_**

 ** _(1) Boss Battle Theme - Mario and Luigi: Dream Team OST_**

 ** _(2) Fist Bump (Piano Version) - Sonic Forces OST_**

 ** _(3) Juggernaut - Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions OST_**

 ** _(4) Mysterio (Noir) - Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions OST_**

 ** _(5) Burning Way Past Cool - Unused Sonic SatAM OST_**

 _Without further ado, enjoy the show._

* * *

 **Rough and Tumble's Revenge**

Back at the Imperial Tower in Metropolis, Dr. Starline was talking to Dr. Eggman over the Eggnet's Video Chatting system. The human doctor was disappointed that Starline and Mecha Sonic together couldn't capture the hedgehog.

" _You've disappointed me, Starline,"_ Dr. Eggman said with a scowl. _"From the way you convinced me to look for Synergy, I thought you would have been the perfect soldier for me. But as always, I was wrong. You're nothing more than just a useless lackey. You're fired, Starline! I will find the Gizoid myself!"_

"W-wait, Doctor!" Starline pleaded. "Do not lay me out of this job, I want to help you find Synergy. My lifelong dream has been to help you achieve your goal! Please, give me another chance!"

" _Give me one good reason why I should allow you to stay with my empire?"_ Dr. Eggman asked with a sneer. _"Asking me to use Mecha Sonic on the mission convinced me that you knew what you were doing, but even with a repaired Super Badnik, you still managed to fail. A robot chicken and a Grounder have more power than_ _ **you!**_ _"_

"I'm telling you, Doctor," Starline began to make an offer. "If you let me stay here, I can help you remake Project: Synergy. I've studied the Nocturnus Clan's technology for as long as I can remember, but I've also studied your work as well! If we work together, he can become the ultimate Eggman Empire soldier!"

" _You think I don't know that!? I can always rebuild him by myself!"_

"How can I prove my worth to you, my lord?"

Dr. Eggman adjusted his red jacket and stroked his mustache. Starline was willing to do _anything_ to stay with the Eggman Empire, meaning that he was obviously loyal to the doctor's regime. The mad doctor thought of an idea until he snapped his fingers; a light bulb lit up in his head.

" _You really want to stay?"_ Dr. Eggman asked.

"Yes! I'll do anything!" Starline pleaded.

" _Since you're willing to relent to me. Why don't you make yourself useful and find that one Gizoid I made a while ago, G-merl. You and Metal Sonic can go find him for me."_

"Of course! But if I may ask, what do you plan to do with him?" Starline asked, rubbing his head.

" _If I can have one Gizoid in my possession, why not have a_ _ **whole army of Gizoids?**_ _"_

* * *

 _ **(1)**_ Back at the city, a donnybrook erupted between the Resistance and the skunk brothers: Rough and Tumble. Amy, Silver, Shadow, Rouge, and Ray chased after the Egg-Cerberus, which not only housed Rough and Tumble, but most of the Resistance was stuck trying to dismantle the destructive superweapon.

Knuckles, Mighty, and the Chaotix were still on all four of the dog's legs. They were trying to climb up to the top, so they can overthrow the skunk brothers.

But the self-proclaimed "kings of the world" said otherwise to the Resistance's plans.

"Get off our mech, chumps!" Tumble snarled, scolding the heroes for dragging the robot down.

Rough pressed a red button on his control console that made the robot stop completely, that sudden stop caused all five heroes to shoot off the robot's legs. Knuckles, Vector, and Charmy landed on their sides whereas Mighty landed on his back. Espio was the only one who landed on his feet.

Amy and her team managed to catch up with their teammates; all of them were ready for another round.

The Egg-Cerberus barked as loud as a real canine. It growled at the disgusting sight of the Resistance.

"This is it, losers!" Rough laughed maniacally. "Say bye-bye!"

A voice responded to Rough's threat; Sonic the Hedgehog came out of the blue and homing attacked the two Egg Mobiles Rough and Tumble sat in. He then kicked both canine heads before landing on the ground.

"Bye-bye, Rough and Tumble!" Sonic smirked, waving goodbye to the skunks.

"Y-you!" Rough and Tumble shouted; their anger grew stronger now that Sonic has joined the fight. "You wrecked our kingdom, so now we're gonna wreck yours!"

"I don't consider Green Hill City my castle," Sonic shrugged his shoulders. "Nor do I see myself as the royal type. I once had a dream I was married to a chipmunk princess and we had two kids. Kind of weird, but also somewhat cool."

Tails and Tangle jumped from the rooftop above them and landed beside Sonic. The rest of the Resistance ran to the trio, wondering who the lemur was.

"Sonic, good to see you!" Amy said with joy. "Who's this?" she motioned to Tangle.

"Hi, nice to meet you guys!" Tangle shook Amy's hand with her right hand, Vector's hand with her left hand, and Knuckles' hand with her tail. "Name's Tangle the Lemur; typical civilian here to help!"

"She's cool, she's with me," Sonic nodded to Knuckles.

"If she can help us fight," Knuckles said. "Then she's more than welcome to stay."

"Sweet!" Tangle cupped her hands over her mouth, squealing in excitement. "I get to fight alongside the Resistance. Pinch me, I must be dreaming! In my comic books, this is the part where the villain says something intimidating!"

"Doesn't matter how many of you idiots show up," Tumble folded his arms and huffed. "We're gettin' our revenge, no matter who we have to kill!"

"Wow, pretty scary line if I do say so myself," Tangle chuckled nervously. "However, the heroes respond with- "

"You two talk a big game, but we all know how this ends," Sonic said. "You two are sitting in a pile of busted robot parts, crying like little babies." Knuckles walked up to Sonic, fist-bumping him.

"The tables have turned," Knuckles said.

"They've certainly bumbled," Sonic added.

The Resistance (except Shadow) chimed in for their own rhyme. " _It's butt-kick time for_ _ **Rough and Tumble!**_ "

Offended that the good guys stole him and his brother's gimmick, Rough slammed his hands on the controls and growled. Steam was coming out of his ears, literally. " _That's_ _ **our**_ _thing! You can't do_ _ **our**_ _thing!_ "

"Doesn't matter," Tumble retorted. "Let's rip them apart!"

The Egg-Cerberus slammed its two frontal paws on the ground, roaring so loud, the next town over could hear it. But that didn't scare the Resistance, not one bit, because all of them were focused on saving their home and getting back to rescuing Big. Each of them exchanged grins before they positioned themselves in battle poses.

Rough and Tumble charged at the heroes; another round was getting started. _**(1s)**_

* * *

 _~G-merl's P.O.V. **(2)**_

Seriously? How long does it take for a Gizoid to reboot like this? For the record, I have never gone through a reboot in my programming before, mainly because I've never gone berserk like that before. Well, berserk is a bit of a loose term. I'm not sure how to even describe that little freak-out I had while walking with Cream, Blaze, and Elder Scruffy to Windmill Village.

Before I was shut down by someone who miraculously figured out where my off switch was, I saw a flashback of Synergy and I sparring for a Shade the Echidna; Imperator Ix's second in command. Gotta say, I never thought I'd see her again… sort of, but ever since I saw that tiny piece of my past, it made me wonder… do Shade, Synergy, and I have a history together?

I am well aware that I was built from the data of my predecessor, Emerl, but I never imagined having access to so many memories from his past. I remember the time where Dr. Eggman tried to get me to join his empire, but he threw me away because I wouldn't comply.

I washed up on Emerald Beach, only to be rescued by Sonic.

Since then, I've been introduced to Tails, Amy, Shadow, Knuckles, Rouge, etc. But the most important person that I've grown to love in my life was my best friend, Cream.

Ever since we've met, she's treated me with nothing but kindness. Even in my new body (the Gizoid I am today), she still loves me for who I am.

I wanted to wake up now, right now, so I can tell Cream that I'm okay. I can imagine she's worried sick about me right now. But as I sit here, doing nothing, I am greeted to another flashback.

Thankfully, it was not one involving Synergy. This was one involving Cream.

I was suddenly transported back to several months ago, shortly after the events of Sonic's defeat in Green Hill City. When Dr. Eggman discovered the Phantom Ruby and used it to create a super-powered jackal named Infinite, he used his new weapon to make clones of Shadow, Metal Sonic, Chaos, and some red dude named Zavok. All of them joined Infinite in destroying Green Hill City, capturing Sonic in the process. After they imperialized the city, Dr. Eggman sent his robots to attack the rest of the world. This included where Cream and I lived.

Once they invaded my home, I fought back against the Badniks while Cream and Vanilla made a desperate escape. I followed close behind, annihilating anybody who stood in my way. Unfortunately for us, we were located by the Eggman Empire. Just when we thought all hope was lost, Knuckles the Echidna and Amy Rose came in and destroyed the Badniks with ease.

It was at that moment when they asked me, Cream, and Vanilla to come back with them. They wanted us to join their Resistance. Having no other choice, we agreed. Cream and Vanilla became nurses while I became a soldier in the Resistance.

Why am I telling you this? Because this flashback is about Cream's reaction to the Phantom Ruby War.

Six months into the war, I found myself walking through Resistance HQ, I was sent down to the infirmary to check on our forces. Eggman's empire chewed through our defenses in Green Hill, thanks to that jackal who killed Sonic. Knuckles sent me to check on the patients and Cream herself. As I walked by, I got mixed reactions from the soldiers and rookies.

Some of them greeted me with, _"Hey, G-merl, how are you doing?"_ Whereas others said, _"I can't believe Commander Knuckles put an Eggman Robot on the team."_

It made sense for me to get rude comments from the people who hated me. Everywhere I'd look, I would see all sorts of Mobians and humans look at me as if I'm an alien from outer space. A family of dogs covered the eyes of their pups, not wanting them to see me. But on the bright side, a red wolf with glasses gave me a high five. That was nice.

I walked into the infirmary. It wasn't very pleasant in there. The walls were all dark and muddy and the only light sources came from lamps above ten hospital beds. I walked over to Cream, who was wrapping a cast around a teal bird's arm. She smiled, as she looked at me, noticing I was here.

"Hi, G-merl," she happily greeted. "What brings you here?"

"How ya doin', Kiddo?" I asked. I saw the teal bird smile and nod at me. Like the wolf, he was cool.

"I'm all right, G-merl," Cream replied. She finished tying the cast around the bird's arm. "Hold on a second, I'll be right with you." she looked at the bird with a bright smile. She closed her eyes and giggled. "Okay, Mr. Corvin, do you know what comes next?"

"A visit from Dr. Lollipop?" Corvin replied. I never knew there was a doctor named after candy.

"Better!" Cream said. I watched her kneel down and whip out this oversized container of lollipops. "A visit from Dr. Sugar-Free Lollipop!"

Something told me that was Vanilla's idea.

Corvin, despite wanting some sugar, took the piece of candy and thanked Cream for her help. He got up from his chair and started walking out the door. Before he went outside, he patted me on the shoulder, telling me I was a good brother to Cream. He exited the room, leaving me alone with my best friend.

It was at that moment where Cream said, "Mr. G-merl… may I as you something?"

"Sure," I replied, sitting beside her. "What's up?"

Cream hesitated to ask her question at first. Her cheeks turned red and a little tear dropped from her eyes. What was her question? That's what I asked myself as she tried to place her words together. Within a matter of a few seconds, Cream asked me this inquiry.

"Is Mr. Sonic gone?"

How am I supposed to respond to that? Sonic died six months ago because of that jackal. How do I answer that without making it sound lugubrious? I'm not sure if Vanilla taught Cream the difference between life and death, but I still don't want to make my response somber. I looked to the side and rubbed my head, Cream leaned over and noticed my hesitation.

I tapped the yellow fin on my forehead and focused my three eyes (I have two normal eyes, one is on my head) on her. I finally found my answer.

"Sonic's not gone… he's in here," I replied, pointing to Cream's heart. "He may not be with us, physically, but he'll always be here in your heart."

While my reply was brief and a little corny, Cream smiled and gave me a hug.

"Thanks, G-merl," she replied, shedding another tear. "You always make me feel better. I feel horrible that jackal defeated him, but I have a feeling Mr. Sonic will come back to us soon… right?"

I hugged Cream back and said, "Couldn't have said it better myself."

As Cream and I had a sibling-like moment, a flash of white light shattered my flashback.

Then, there was nothing. _**(2s)**_

* * *

Meanwhile, in Goat's house.

Blaze and Goat were having a small conversation about what's happened since the last time they've seen each other while Cream was playing with a few wooden toys with Cheese. She was playing with the policemen while her Chao played with the firefighters. Cheese grabbed one of the firefighters, lifted his leg up, and smashed him against a wooden monster. As he played with the toys, he was making little sound effects like explosions, punches, and kicks.

Cream, on the other hand, was doing the opposite.

She wasn't in the mood to do any of the stuff her best friend was doing because she was more worried about the fate of G-merl. Speaking of which, he was sitting in the corner with his head down low. His eyes had no glow to them whatsoever. Cream turned her head and saw that he was still rebooting. How long does it take him to do this?

She sighed and continued "playing" with Cheese.

But suddenly, the voice of G-merl caught everyone in the house off-guard.

"Reboot Mode: Complete," G-merl said. His three eyes shined a blue light, as he woke up from his slumber. He rubbed his head and slowly looked up at the three females and the Chao. Cream, Blaze, Cheese, and Goat smiled, as they got up and walked to him.

"G-merl!" Cream smiled, showering her friend with hugs. "You're okay!"

Cheese flew around G-merl before resting on his forehead.

"Thank goodness you're all right, G-merl," Blaze smiled, shaking the Gizoid's hand. "We were concerned for you. Are you all right?"

"I'm okay, I guess," G-merl replied. "I don't remember what happened. I had a small flashback about Project: Synergy again before I suddenly shut down. Do you two remember what happened?"

Blaze and Cream looked at each other before turning their eyes to Goat. The purple-cloaked female lowered her head before she got up from her seat.

"G-merl," Goat said. "While I didn't want to do this around anyone else, I figured it would be the right thing to do. In other words, you have the right to know."

"Why does your voice sound familiar?" G-merl asked.

Goat grabbed her hood and pulled it back, revealing her true identity.

G-merl stared back, astonished. "It's you."

Shade the Echidna: Former member of the Nocturnus Clan, looked into the Gizoid's eyes. "It's been a long time, Project: Emerl."

* * *

 _ **(3)**_ "Come on, ya big-headed lug!" Sonic shouted, as he avoided getting bitten by one of the Egg-Cerberus's canine heads. "You can do better than that!" He ran across the road and homing attacked the feet, making the giant robot fall down to the ground. Rough and Tumble snarled at the blue hedgehog, as they opened the cockpit and shot canisters of skunk stink at him.

He dodged them with ease. Tangle whipped one of them back with her tail, but she overshot it. The purple canister flew over the Egg-Cerberus.

"Wow, she sucks at aiming," Tumble chuckled.

"Hey, shut up!" Tangle retorted.

"And that was such a childish comeback!" Rough snickered, gently punching his brother's arm. "What is she, five years old?" Both skunk brothers laughed.

Tangle was about to get her revenge before Espio landed beside her.

"Don't let their words get to you," Espio said. "They're just trying to mess with your head."

Tangle took a deep breath before smiling at the chameleon. "Thanks, I'm Tangle by the way. Big fan."

"Espio," the ninja nodded. "Welcome to the Resistance."

Vector and Charmy flew above the robot dog and landed on one of its head, trying to rip it apart. Silver, Shadow, and Mighty circled around it and began attacking its legs. Tangle and Espio nodded one more time before joining their friends in battle.

Amy swung a Pink Tornado at the canine, but all that did was cause the dog's tail to whack Amy across the face. Luckily, Sonic was quick enough to catch her before she hit the ground.

"Thanks, Sonic," Amy said.

"No problem, Ames," Sonic replied. They watched Ray slam-dunk Knuckles, who was spiraling downward, into the Egg-Cerberus's back. Tails flew around and fired an armada of yellow energy orbs. Unfortunately, Rough and Tumble slammed on of the dog's heads into him, forcing him to crash into Mighty and Shadow.

"Sorry, guys!" Tails said.

"Ya got a plan to stop this sucker?" the blue blur asked the pink Valkyrie.

Amy rubbed her chin. "I would suggest attacking it all at once, but the armor's too strong for our combined forces to break through."

Tangle fell beside the hedgehogs after she was smacked to the side by Rough and Tumble.

She slowly moved her around, dazed. "My cupcakes are missing, Grandma."

Amy grabbed the lemur by her hand, pulling her up.

Tangle shook her head, regaining her balance. "Sorry about that. What's the plan?"

As the Egg-Cerberus continued to wreak havoc, an idea popped into Sonic's head. He snapped his fingers and turned around.

"I'll be right back!" he said. He prepared to take off running, but Amy stopped him, concerned about his plan.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"Just keep that thing busy, I'll be back!" Sonic replied with a grin; he suddenly disappeared in the speed of light. Amy and Tangle looked at each other before looking back at the dust cloud Sonic left behind.

"Does he always do that?" Tangle asked.

"It's kind of his thing," Amy replied.

"He reminds me of a comic book superhero. You know, the one who always has ideas, but refuses to tell his friends about them, resulting into- "

Cutting Tangle's sentence off, Rough and Tumble turned the Egg-Cerberus around and started charging at her and Amy. Amy turned around and gasped, as she pushed Tangle out of the way. The dog's two heads opened their mouths, ready to take a bite of the lemur and the hedgehog. But instead of having Mobians for lunch, he got a taste of a rocket instead.

An orange rocket exploded against the right head, blowing it into smithereens; only one head remained.

Rough and Tumble gasped in fear, as the Egg-Cerberus roared.

Knuckles and the Resistance gathered around Amy and Tangle, wondering what hit them.

"What was that?" Charmy asked. _**(3s)**_

Shadow instantly knew who it was. "She's back." _**(4)**_

"Who?" Silver asked.

Whisper the Wolf dropped down from above, shooting another rocket at the robotic dog. The dog opened its mouth and smashed its teeth into the ground, missing its chance to bite Whisper. The Silent Sniper moved out of the way, running around the robotic dog, trying to distract it. Rough and Tumble snarled at the wolf and chased after her, a few buildings and piles of debris shook as the Egg-Cerberus stomped on the ground.

Silver was more than surprised to see such a dramatic entrance. His jaw dropped to the ground, as he slapped his hands against his head. "Was that… was that… was that…"

"She helped us fight Synergy in Soleanna," Rouge answered, smirking at Silver's excitement. "Her name is- "

" _ **The Guardian Angel!**_ " Silver squealed.

"The who?" Tails asked, rubbing his head.

"How do you not know about the Guardian Angel?" Silver said to the fox.

Tails nervously sighed, as he rubbed his shoulders. "I… spent six months on my own, so I kinda missed some things."

"I'd love to know more about her," Knuckles interrupted the two interlocutors. "But we need to keep fighting!"

"Oh, right, sorry!" Silver apologized, nodding his head.

Whisper ran around and lured it back to the Resistance. Everyone moved to the side, watching the dog skid across the dirt.

"Enough games!" Rough shouted at the top of his lungs. "Time to finish this mess once and for all!"

Whisper cocked her weapon, standing alongside the rest of the heroes. Tangle looked at the wolf, amazed at her outfit and weapon. "I assume you're the one who's a total butt kicker. You know, like most of those guys in comics," she said.

Whisper raised an eyebrow in confusion, not knowing how to respond to Tangle's comment.

"Face it, losers!" Tumble grinned from his Egg Mobile. "You ain't gonna win this! This dog will eat you up for lunch!"

The Egg-Cerberus ran around the Resistance. Everyone resumed fighting.

Shadow, Whisper, and Tails shot projectiles. Mighty and Ray grabbed onto the legs, ripping pieces of circuitry and metal apart. Sadly, the two were shaken off due to the monster's strength; it grabbed them both and smashed them against the ground.

Silver flew around the one-headed dog, picking up boxes, crates, and other objects as weapons. All at once, he smashed them onto the cockpit. Rough and Tumble exchanged nervous looks before they fired a purple canister at Silver. The psychic hedgehog dodged it, but he wasn't quick enough to avoid Tumble's attack. The white skunk whacked the hedgehog with his mechanical tail.

The Egg-Cerberus suddenly chased after Rouge and Charmy. Shadow, Whisper, and Tails shot more projectiles. Mighty, Ray, the Chaotix, and Tangle chased after it. Rough and Tumble laughed as they watched Knuckles and Amy grab onto the legs. The two of them climbed up to the tail.

Amy jumped on the tail and grind railed up the robot's back. Knuckles wrapped his fingers around the tail, noticing that Amy grabbed the antenna.

"Amy, what are you doing!?" Knuckles shouted. He suddenly noticed that the Egg-Cerberus moved to the left without warning. Rough and Tumble gasped at the sudden change in direction. But it wasn't them who did this, it was Amy; she was controlling the dog with his antenna.

"Hey, get off of there!" Rough shouted. "That's cheating!"

"I'll get her!" Tumble snarled. He opened the hatch and climbed on top of the dog. He raised his iron tail back and prepared to crush Amy.

"Amy, look out!" Knuckles shouted in worry. He rushed over to save Amy, but he saw the pink hedgehog protect herself by using her hammer to shield herself. As soon as the steel clashed with her hammer, she grabbed it and pulled herself upward, smashing her hammer against the skunk's face.

Knuckles jumped over Amy and punched Tumble.

Both the echidna and the hedgehog kept fighting while everyone else below did their part.

Rough smashed a button on the control console, which shot a laser towards Tangle and the Chaotix. Espio and Vector grabbed Tangle's tail, she spun them around and yanked them at the dog. Espio slashed the front legs with his dagger while Vector bit into the other ones with his teeth. Charmy joined in by kicking the legs.

Tangle smiled and continued running.

Whisper and Tails were struck by the laser while Shadow jumped over it, throwing a Chaos Spear at Rough. The blue skunk evaded the attack, countering with another laser. Hitting him in the chest, the laser caused Shadow to skid across the ground. He jumped up and grunted in frustration.

Suddenly, Sonic the Hedgehog returned to the fight, stopping beside Shadow.

"You!" Shadow snarled, grabbing Sonic by the shoulders. "Where have you been!?"

"Sorry, Shadz," Sonic replied. "I had to grab something." He reached into Hammerspace and pulled out a red Chaos Emerald: the same red emerald that Synergy nearly stole from Metal Sonic in the temple. Shadow widened his eyes at the sight of the glowing gem.

"A Chaos Emerald?" he asked. "How long have you had that?" _**(4s)**_

"Since the first time I met you know who," Sonic replied. "I have an idea, listen closely." _**(5)**_

Sonic and Shadow discussed the plan the former had up his sleeve. They soon nodded and got everyone else's attention by shouting. The Resistance turned to them and watched as they were heading for a nearby building. Everyone on the ground followed close behind while Knuckles and Amy leaped off the top.

Rough and Tumble changed the direction of their robot; they followed the heroes.

"We got em' on the run!" Tumble shouted.

Suddenly, everyone disbanded. Tangle, Whisper, Mighty, Ray, and Silver were on one side while everyone else was on the other. Sonic and Shadow were the only ones still running.

Tangle extended her tail and threw one half to Knuckles. Everyone pulled both ends of her tail, waiting for the Egg-Cerberus to fall for their trap. The giant dog tripped over to the tail. The cockpit of the Egg Mobiles shot open, shooting Rough and Tumble across the sky. As they screamed, Sonic and Shadow prepared the second part of their plan.

"Chaos Control!" they shouted, slowing down time. Sonic suddenly kicked Rough up the chin, yanking his gear off of him.

Shadow grabbed Tumble's head and slammed him against his knee, ripping the iron tail off in the process.

Time eventually unfroze. Both hedgehogs nodded before they slam-dunked the skunk brothers into the ground. The rest of the Resistance released Tangle's tail; the lemur rubbed it in pain, but she was all right, nonetheless. Sonic and Shadow landed on the ground, walking to the skunks with the Resistance.

They surrounded them.

Rough and Tumble, dazed from the impact, got up and saw that they were cornered. They gulped in pure nervousness. _**(5s)**_

"Our mech… it's gone… _You wrecked our_ _ **mech!**_ " the former shouted in anger.

"When we get our hands on you," Tumble sneered. "We're gonna tear you apart!"

Tangle and Amy slapped both skunk brothers with the back of their hands.

"Nice," Amy smiled. "I like you."

"Thank you!" Tangle giggled, winking.

"All right, Rough and Tumble, we got some questions, and you're gonna answer them," Knuckles growled, slapping his fists together. "But first… where's Eggman?"

Before Knuckles could get an answer, a magic wormhole opened below him, Rough, and Tumble. All three of them fell inside, appearing inside Dr. Eggman's base in Metropolis. Dr. Starline walked over and saw that the wormhole was still open. Not only that, but Knuckles was inside the base.

Rough and Tumble, falling on top of each other, got up and gasped at the sight of their master. Knuckles did the same and tried to punch him. Starline dodged the attack and grabbed Knuckles' dreadlocks, punching him through the wormhole.

The echidna fell through the portal, landing on the ground.

Everyone looked at Knuckles before noticing Starline's appearance.

"Starline!" Sonic shouted. He, Shadow, and Silver were ready for a rematch with him, but the platypus wanted to get back to work.

"Maybe next time." Starline said. He closed the wormhole before the hedgehogs could counter attack.

A moratorium struck Green Hill City.

"What was that?" Tangle asked, pointing at the sight the wormhole was at.

Sonic and Knuckles exchanged a look before the former wrapped his arm around the lemur.

"It's a long story," Sonic said.

"We're in a bit of a pickle," Knuckles said.

"Actually, we're always in several pickles," Rouge smiled.

"Case in point," Knuckles said, annoyed by Rouge's comment. "There's a guy on the loose and he's causing problems. Eggman's just adding to all of that. You seem very reliable and very skilled; how would you like to join our Resistance?"

"Boy, would I!?" Tangle replied with excitement. "This is just like comic books! When the hero thinks they don't have what it takes, they find out their favorite superheroes want them as a new recruit- "

Sonic placed two fingers on Tangle's lips.

"Please, no more pop culture references," he said.

 _ **END OF CHAPTER 17**_

* * *

 _It's game over for Rough and Tumble, however, the Resistance has failed to get any information on Dr. Eggman's plans. But at least they know that he has a base hidden in Metropolis. They will head over there in search for answers. But let's talk about... the reveal! Yes, my friends, Shade the Echidna is the mysterious caller as well as Goat. She has been hinted to appear since Synergy's awakening when Sonic and Eggman were looking at the pictures of her clan on the walls. I am surprised people voted for Julie-Sue. That's an Archie character; this story takes place in the IDW Series. Anyways, thanks to those who voted and I hope you enjoyed the reveal._

 _For the next chapter, Dr. Eggman will have a turn against Synergy and Big in "Chapter 18: Clash of the Villains."_

* * *

 ** _POST-A/N:_**

 _Fun little fact: The reason why Shade called herself "Goat" is because that is a reference to her original species in Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood. Back when Nintendo Power Magazine was a thing, they advertised Sonic Chronicles for the DS by showing character bios. To prevent spoilers that Shade was an echidna like Knuckles, they labeled her as Shade the Goat. That's why I gave Shade that nickname._

 _I never addressed this before (At least I don't think I did) but I always found the Egg-Cerberus disappointing. That robot dog in Sonic 06 had only one head. A Cerberus is a three-headed dog. The Mouser bot from TMNT: Out of the Shadows got that right, why didn't Sonic 06?... never mind, I just answered my own question. Anyways, I decided to reuse that Super Badnik from the game and give it the treatment it deserves._

 _Tangle is the last IDW character to appear in this fic. If there are any new IDW characters that show up in later issues of the comics, don't expect them to show up._

 _Since G-merl and Cream were never in Sonic Forces, Infinite's Ruby helped me write this scene by telling me her head cannon about what happened to them during the game I do wish we could have seen them in the title, but I guess Sega wants us to forget about them while they promote that Sonic movie. For the record, I don't hate the Sonic movie design, but I do wish the movie was animated like Sonic was Wreck it Ralph. But Detective Pikachu looks great!_

 _As always, don't forget to leave your thoughts and constructive criticisms down below. Be sure to favorite and follow if you want to see more. I'm the Sensational SpiderDom321 and I'll see you all next time!_

 _~SD321 (SpiderDom321)_


	18. Clash of the Villains Pt 1

_**A/N:** Hello, everyone! Sorry for the delay of chapters for this story. I've had a lot of stuff on my hands that I needed to get done. Luckily, Infinite's Ruby and I were able to finish this chapter in time as well as work on part of Chapter 19. So last time, all of you got introduced to Shade the Echidna. Yep, that's right. I am sure you all predicted her arrival, and I am proud to say that she's here to stay. Just... don't tell Ken Penders… please. Anyways, let's see what Synergy and Big have been up to since Chapter 13, shall we?_

 _But before we get started, be sure to vote on the poll regarding the final battle and thanks for over 89 reviews and over 3,000 views._

 _And no, this is not an April Fools Joke like last time. This is the real deal!_

 _ **Suggested Music:**_

 _ **(1) Casino Forest - Sonic Forces OST**_

 _ **(2) Casino Park - Sonic Heroes OST**_

 _ **(3) Boss Battle - Mario and Luigi: Dream Team OST**_

 _ **(4) Black Bull - Shadow the Hedgehog OST**_

 _ **(5) History - Sonic Mega Collection OST (God, I love this music so much!)**_

 _Without further ado, enjoy the show!_

* * *

 **Clash of the Villains**

"…onic?"

He didn't know what just happened nor did he know how It happened.

"…onic? Sonic?... are you all right?"

He heard nothing but voices of a female calling his name. His saw nothing but darkness, but he heard voices and the sound of wood burning. He slowly opened his eyes; his vision was blurry. All he saw was the color orange. Orange flames circled around him, causing him to question what happened before.

"Sonic!? Wake up!"

Sonic the Hedgehog opened his eyes and his eyesight returned to normal. He could finally see more colors than just orange. But sadly, what he was looking at wasn't a sight for sore eyes.

Other than flames, he saw trees that looked like they were chopped down by a violent lumberjack and piles of wood and debris all over the ground. Sonic noticed that he was sitting on the ground, laying on his side. He shook his head and stood up, rubbing his head and moaning.

Amy Rose was sitting right in front of him. She gasped once she saw him move. She then gave him a small hug.

"Sonic, thank goodness," she said with relief, as she released him from the hug. "Are you all right?"

Sonic coughed, "I'm fine… what happened?"

As Sonic coughed again, he tripped on his own feet and collapsed on the ground. Amy gently grabbed Sonic's arm and wrapped it around her. She lifted him off the ground and helped him walk a few feet forward.

As they walked, they saw the bodies of their friends on the ground. They weren't dead, thankfully, but they were wounded and unconscious. Team Chaotix got up and groaned, looking at each other to see if they were okay. Shadow and Rouge got up as well; they both scanned their environment for E-123 Omega. The giant robot was laying on his back.

Tangle and Whisper helped each other up on their feet; they were covered in bruises and scratch marks.

Mighty helped Ray up on his feet. The latter coughed and clenched his stomach.

Silver and Blaze awoke from their state of unconsciousness, unaware of what was going to happen next.

Cream the Rabbit coughed and helped three people who just wanted to earn their pay. They were Nack the Weasel, Bean the Dynamite Duck, and Bark the Polar Bear. All of them coughed and looked at each other with worry.

Knuckles was the last one to wake up. He rubbed his head and saw the Resistance gather together.

"Is everyone all right?" he asked.

Everyone responded, "Yeah,"

"I think I broke my arm," Bean said. "And my leg… and my beak… basically, my everything."

"Where's Eggman?" Shadow snarled, clenching his fist.

Suddenly, Shadow's inquiry was answered when the Resistance turned and saw the shadow of Dr. Eggman in the distance. He looked to be running away from another shadow. The shadow picked him up and chucked him across the area. He landed right beside the Resistance.

Before anyone could do anything, Dr. Starline, Metal Sonic, Rough, and Tumble flew through the smoke and landed against the dirt. All of them were wounded by whatever was on the other side of the smoke.

Cream gasped and cupped her hands together. Nack took out his gun, Bean twirled several bombs, and Bark clapped his fists together.

Everyone looked at each other and readied themselves for another round.

Sonic cracked his fingers and got into a fighting position. "Ready for round two?"

* * *

 _~A few days ago **(1)**_

It was nighttime in the Mystic Jungle and everywhere Synergy and Big looked, there was darkness. The only light that guided them through the path was a bright, shining, half moon that glistened upon them. Big lead his Gizoid "friend" through the arable land, which was covered in nothing but bushes and leaves. Synergy kicked some of the bushes aside, not wanting to lose track of Big, because he was his only hope of getting back to the Mystic Ruins.

Suddenly, Big stopped in the middle of his tracks because he was blinded by a bright light. Froggy, sitting on Big's shoulder, jumped up and down. Synergy bumped into the purple cat's back, wondering why his guide suddenly stopped.

The blue/green robot walked around Big and was flabbergasted by what he was looking at.

After walking through the Mystic Jungle for what felt like days, they've stumbled upon the Casino Forest: one of the most infamous landmarks of the Mystic Jungle.

This place was created by Dr. Eggman during the Phantom Ruby War. No one knows _why_ the fat genius constructed this place, but the Resistance believed that Eggman had a serious gambling problem much like Sonic.

The place was bright and colorful. Pink, yellow, and blue lights illuminated the darkness and red-colored springs shined through the night. Floating slot machines that had faces of Sonic, Tails, and Dr. Eggman were present. Some say that if you get three Eggman faces on the slot machine, it would have severe consequences.

The cat and the Gizoid looked at each other. The former was happy while the latter was confused.

They both walked through the entrance of the casino.

"What on Mobius is this place?" Synergy asked in wonder. He was fascinated with the bright colors of the area, but he wondered why it was here. It was clear he hadn't seen anything like this 4,000 years ago.

"I'm not sure," Big said. "Reminds me of Casinopolis. Very pretty. Right, Froggy?"

"Ribbit, Ribbit," Froggy said.

"Casinopolis?" Synergy inquired. "Anyways, we have no time for this place. We have to get back to the Mystic Ruins. Is there another way around?"

"Sorry, Synergy," Big said. "But this is the only way to the next area. Besides, wouldn't it be best if you know the layout of different areas?"

"What do you mean?" Synergy asked, rubbing his head.

"When you conquer this land," Big began. "What if mean people attack you. You have to look for places to escape and to do that, you have to know the world around you."

"Pfft, no one's going to be stupid enough to challenge me," Synergy gloated. "Once I rule over Mobius with an iron fist, I'll make sure no one gets the idea to attack me!"

"I wouldn't get too over confident, Synergy. I know you'd make a good king, but even the most powerful kings need to explore their area."

Synergy looked at Big, prepared to tell him he was wrong, but as he thought about it, he realized Big was right. It was at that moment where he remembered that 4,000 years ago, Imperator Ix did the same thing Big was talking about. _**(1s)**_

* * *

 _~Synergy's P.O.V._

Big may not look it, but he really is smarter than I thought. That's one of the reasons why I kept him by my side. That, and he's pretty strong. I've scanned his power levels before and he's a lot more powerful than he thinks. Maybe that frog gives him an energy boost or something, I don't know.

Anyways, he was right about one thing… a good king needs to have a layout of the land.

Before Project: Emerl and I marched off to war against the Knuckles Clan, Imperator Ix, Procurator Shade, and several other Nocturnus Clan soldiers gathered around a small table in a meeting room. Project: Emerl and I were joining them in the meeting.

All of us were looking at a topographical map of the Mystic Ruins. I can't believe I nearly forgot what my own city, Nocturne, looked like. It was a large city with buildings of various sizes. Much like the Knuckles Clan, we had carts filled with food and supplies, but we also had secret laboratories that scientists conducted their experiments in. I've only been in one of them because I was created in one of those labs.

Anyways, as Project: Emerl and I looked at the map, we heard our king talk to his peers.

"Listen up, everyone," he said with a cold sneer. "The Knuckles Clan may think they know the land, but they have no idea we know our home as well. We will split our forces into teams. Squad A, you wills stick to the shadows and hide in the temples of Sand Hill. Squad B, use the snow from Ice Cap to create an avalanche that will wipe them out! Squad C, use the tornados from Windy Valley to blow them out of the battle. Squad D… we'll take the battle to Chief Pachacamac himself."

It was amazing to know that my own lord had a battle plan. From what I've heard from Nestor the Wise's stories, kings would normally rush into battle without question, which would ultimately cause their downfall. But Imperator Ix was not just a king, he was a mighty conqueror, a conqueror with a foo-proof strategy.

"Procurator Shade," Ix said again. He turned to me and Project: Emerl. "Do you think you're ready to take the Gizoids to war?"

Procurator Shade turned to us. She looked at us with a stern expression. Project: Emerl and I said nothing.

"I'm ready, Imperator Ix," she replied. "We'll make them wish they've never been born!"

* * *

Synergy and Big continued walking through the forest. The latter replied to Big's statement about knowing the land. _**(2)**_

"You're right," Synergy nodded in agreement. "I'm sorry I doubted you, Big."

"It's okay," Big smiled. He then looked up and saw bright neon green bumpers leading to a massive slot machine. "Hey, that looks like fun! I want to try that!"

"No, Big, wait! We don't know what that is!" Synergy shouted in concern, but it was too late. Big jumped into the air, curled into a ball, and landed on the bumper. The green mechanism suddenly flicked the fat cat into the air. Big laughed as he landed on a row of purple and yellow circles. As he bounced up and down, orange numbers came out of the circles.

They read, _1000! 2000! 3000! 4000!_

"What the?" Synergy scratched his head, finding it hard to scan all of this abnormal activity.

Big bounced off the row of circles and landed smack in the middle of the slot machine. He circled around and around, causing the three slots to spin around. Faces of Sonic, Tails, and Eggman were spinning rapidly.

"Huh?" Synergy said, intrigued by the slot machine's extraordinary design.

The slot machine stopped spinning and so did Big, he was rewarded with over 500 rings.

He landed on the ground and jumped off another bumper.

"Come on, Synergy!" Big said. "You should try this! It's fun!"

"Eh, I don't know," Synergy replied. "This seems a little dangerous."

"Whoo-hoo!" Big said, as the bumper pushed him into the sky. He bounced off more purple circles until a yellow spring pushed him onto a platform. "Come on, Synergy! It's not so bad."

Synergy looked down at a green bumper that was sitting right in front of him. He lifted on foot off the ground and slowly started to put it on top of the green bumper.

"So, what am I supposed to do- " Synergy said, but his sentence was cut off because something happened to him. As soon as he made physical contact with the mini-platform, he shot across the air and landed on top of another bumper. " _AGH! WHAT THE!?_ "

The bumpers shot Synergy back and forth until he landed on a few purple circles. They pushed him up, down, back, and forth. He was unable to control himself. He attempted to use his jet boosters to fly out of the trap, but he kept bouncing up and down so quickly, he couldn't escape from this colorful monstrosity.

"What on Mobius is this thing!?" Synergy squealed in fear. He bounced off the purple circle and landed against the wall. He slid down and landed on a yellow spring. He flew through the air and slammed against several purple and gold bumpers on the ground.

Every time he landed on them, he kept bouncing back and forth through the casino.

"Get me out of this thing!" Synergy shouted.

"Synergy, just roll into a ball!" Big called, cupping his hands together.

"W-what!?"

"Trust me!"

Determined to get himself out of this trap, Synergy rolled into a ball like Sonic would, and as soon as he landed on another purple bumper, he lunged to the left. He landed on the green bumper again and it shot him vertically upward.

"There you go!" Big said. Synergy landed beside Big, but since he was unable to regain his balance, he wound up rolling backwards down a pathway. Big chased after Synergy by rolling into a ball. "Wait for me!"

Synergy and Big traversed through Casino Forest as if they were trying to complete a level from a video game. They rolled up and down a loop de loop before shooting across the sky thanks to a ramp on the ground. Big and Synergy untucked from their ball forms and started free-falling towards the rest of the casino.

Unfortunately, they got separated along the way.

Big landed on top platform and relied on the green bumpers to get him through the zone. Synergy fell on the bottom platform, right on his feet. He looked up and saw Big rolling down a platform faster than his default speed. Synergy activated his jet-boosters and flew after Big.

Along the way, he heard the cat laughing as he bounced up and down the springs.

Not wanting to be a stick in the mud, Synergy jumped on the springs and started bouncing behind Big.

As the two bounced through the casino and ran down many pathways, they looked at each other and laughed with glee. Big smiled at the Gizoid, as he jumped up and belly slammed on top of a bumper, which caused him to fly through the starry night sky. Synergy copied that move into his database and joined Big in flying across the sky.

Although he didn't have a mouth, Synergy wanted to smile because he was having fun. He thought fishing was fun, but he never expected _this_ to be more enjoyable.

The two of them landed on the ground and ran down the pathway.

But little did they know, Dr. Eggman, Orbot, and Cubot were watching them from above. They watched the cat and the Gizoid run down and jump off more walls and platforms.

"It's hard to believe a robot like that can be so powerful, yet spend his time playing around in casinos," Dr. Eggman said.

"He and the cat seems to share a camaraderie," Orbot said, pointing to the two allies. "Perhaps we could use Big to our advantage. We can recruit both him and Synergy for the Eggman Empire?"

"How can a cat like _that_ be useful to me!?" Dr. Eggman asked, rolling his eyes. "It's the robot I need. With him, I'll start my own army of Gizoids and rule the world. Speaking of the Gizoid army, has Dr. Starline found G-merl yet?"

"I didn't get any calls from him, Doc," Cubot said. "All I got was this black and white television show."

Cubot showed Dr. Eggman a communicator screen that showed nothing but static. A little red Eggman icon had a speech bubble that said, _"Please hold, the Eggnet is experiencing technical difficulties."_

Dr. Eggman rolled his eyes again and slammed his fist against the Egg Mobile's controls. "What's going on with Starline? Bah, I'll worry about him later! Now's our chance to capture our new ally!" _**(2s)**_

* * *

Synergy and Big jumped over randomly placed spikes on the ground, when they suddenly came across a few random Badniks. Motobugs and Buzz Bombers looked at them and started charging for them.

"Aww, what cute little creatures," Synergy said. The Buzz Bomber shot a laser at him, and Synergy dodged out of the way. "What the?"

"Careful, Synergy!" Big said. He jumped up and belly slammed the robotic bees. "Those are the bad guys. They're made by a mean man."

Synergy grabbed one of the Motobugs with his Chaos claws and slammed it into the ground. "Who would that be?" he then looked up and saw something approaching Big, something bigger than the cat himself. "Big, watch out!"

Synergy pushed Big out of the way, avoiding a streak of gunfire. The unlikely allies tumbled across the ground. They looked up and saw the source of the bullets that shot at them.

It was a Super Badnik by the name of E-104 Epsilon: A robot that resembled that of E-102 Gamma, but he was orange, white, and black. He aimed his two machine guns at the cat and the Gizoid, shooting more bullets at them.

Synergy slammed his foot on the ground and held up his right arm, forming a water shield that slowed down the speed of the bullets. Big, standing behind Synergy, gasped at the sight of the Super Badnik. E-104 Epsilon eventually ran out of ammo. He re-loaded his weapons, but before he could shoot them, Synergy wrapped both his claws around the guns.

He yanked E-104 Epsilon's arms off, sparks and wires shot out of the Super Badnik's arms. Small chips of metal landed on the ground. Synergy threw both weapons over his shoulder. He looked up at the orange robot's face and scanned him, copying his abilities.

Synergy then transformed his hands into the same machine guns E-104 Epsilon had.

The Gizoid shot an armada of bullets at the Badnik; all of them pierced through the Super Badnik's body. Nothing but bullet holes covered all of him. Synergy stopped shooting and morphed his hands back to normal. But he wasn't done yet, he transformed his hands into fists that resembled Knuckles' hands.

Leaping into the air, he drilled through the ground, digging a small hole.

Within a matter of seconds, Synergy erupted through the ground and dug his fists through Epsilon's chest. He slammed the robot on the ground, watching it short-circuit. Epsilon's eyes shot out of his head and three springs popped out of his back.

The blue/green robot walked back to his friend, wiping his hands off the dirt that came from the ground.

"You okay, Big?" Synergy asked.

"I'm okay, Synergy," Big replied.

"Did that _'mean guy'_ you talked about make that?" Synergy inquired, looking back at Epsilon's damaged body.

"Yep," Big replied. "He always makes things like that. He's very rude,"

"Aww," said the voice of Dr. Eggman. The Egg Mobile lowered down to the cat and the Gizoid's position. It levitated right in front of them. "It warms my heart when I hear someone talk about me. It's nice to see you again, fat cat. I haven't seen you since the Perfect Chaos incident. And of course, it's a pleasure to meet you at long last, Project: Synergy."

Synergy and Big glanced at each other with confusion. Well, the former was more _worried_ than he was confused.

"D-Dr. Eggman!" Big said.

"Dr. Eggman?" Synergy said to himself before turning to the chubby doctor. "Ah, wait a minute. I remember you. That metal hedgehog from the tomb told me about you. He said something about you wanting to enslave me."

"I wouldn't say, enslave," Dr. Eggman smiled. "I'd say… promote."

"Excuse me?" Synergy said, scratching his head.

"You see, I've been looking for a new commander for my forces. One that can easily whip my inferior forces into shape," Dr. Eggman said, turning to Synergy. "I would _never_ enslave you, so ignore what Metal Sonic told you. Just imagine this… You have a platoon of my finest creations under your command. You will become a valuable asset to my Eggman Empire."

"I will admit, that sounds great to me," Synergy said. "But I don't need to be ordered around y someone like you. I pledged my allegiance to- "

"The Nocturnus Clan," Dr. Eggman said. "Yeah, funny you should say that… they're all gone."

"What do you mean?" Synergy asked, rubbing his head. "They're still in the Mystic Ruins."

"What are you, stupid?" Dr. Eggman said. "The Argus Event wiped them out of existence. Yeah, they didn't return until years later, but they easily got their butts kicked by the infernal blue hedgehog!"

"What nonsense are you blabbering about!?" Synergy said. "Actually, you know what!? I don't want to hear any more of this! I have a mission to help my clan re-enslave this world, just like we did when we wiped out the Knuckles Clan. Come on, Big, we have work to do!"

Just as Synergy and Big continued to go through Casino Forest, the Egg Mobile hovered toward them, blocking their path.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Dr. Eggman chuckled. He then clenched his fists and growled. "But I can't let you leave. Allow me to introduce you to my newest creation."

Suddenly, Eggman's creation introduced itself to Synergy and Big the Cat. In other words, a loud slam came from behind the two allies. Both the cat and the robot slowly turned around; a dark shadow loomed over them. Synergy's green eyes and Big's yellow eyes focused on what was sneering above them.

It was Eggman's newest invention: The Egg Burner.

The Egg Burner was a several meters tall humanoid machine with a coloration that was mostly red. Its ellipsoid torso had a recess on the front where the Egg Mobile would go, and around each shoulder, it has a spiked shoulder guard and a three-layered plating. Its bulky arms consisted of a thin, black upper arm and a much bulkier forearm with four black, grabbling hook-like fingers.

Its pelvis was quite small and round, while its legs had thin black upper legs and its lower legs were muscular with yellow ankles; thrusters on its soles and black painting on its toes.

Dr. Eggman lowered the Egg Mobile into the cockpit. He laughed and twirled his fingers as if he was a supervillain from a cheesy action movie. But unfortunately, the cockpit had a loose fit for the Egg Mobile. In other words, the Egg Mobile tilted over to the right.

The fat doctor punched the left side of his hovercraft, repositioning it to the correct stance.

"Still want to do this the hard way, Synergy?" Dr. Eggman asked. Orbot and Cubot looked at each other as they sat in their seats. _**(3)**_

Synergy and Big looked at each other and nodded. They were ready for a fight.

"Go away, Eggman!" Big said. "It's not nice to hurt others!"

"Big's right," Synergy said. "But if it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get!"

The Egg Burner leaped up into the air and lunged towards Big and Synergy. The two "friends" jumped out of the way, feeling the weight of the mech shake the ground. Synergy and Big rolled across the dirt, running into the casino area. The two of them jumped on a platform and looked back at the Egg Burner; it was running towards them.

Out of the shoulders, seven missiles shot out and started flying towards the fighters. But as they flew, they started shaking. Some of the missiles suddenly crashed into each other whereas others just slammed into the ground. Explosions rained across the ground, causing Big and Synergy to run faster.

"Why are they fluttering!?" Dr. Eggman said, as he watched the missiles miss his targets. "Oh! I _hate_ buying refurbished missiles!"

Synergy grabbed one of the projectiles and chucked it back at the Egg Burner. Surprisingly, Dr. Eggman steered the Egg Burner to the right so quickly, that the missile wound up missing him by a few feet. The Egg Burner raised his hands in the air and fired its right hand like a grabbling hook.

He flew upward and landed on the top platform, chasing after Big and Synergy.

"Running away?" Dr. Eggman chuckled. "I thought you were supposed to be powerful, Synergy! What kind of war machine runs away from a fight!"

"Who said I was running away?" Synergy snarled. He jumped off the platform and started free-falling. The Egg Burner looked down and watched as the Gizoid land on the bottom platform. It was at that moment where the Gizoid activated Epsilon's machine guns.

Bullets started shooting from his hands and they hit the Egg Burner all at once.

The Egg Burner raised its left arm, shielding its pilot from the gunfire. Nothing but clanks and dings were heard as Synergy shot at the Super Badnik.

While the robot provided the distraction, Big the Cat, who somehow snuck behind the giant robot, climbed on the back of it. He crawled up the side like a spider until he reached the very top. He leaped upward and started belly slamming on top of the Egg Burner.

This caused the top of the Egg Burner to have some dents on the top of it. Dr. Eggman heard an alarm wail from where he was sitting. He popped up camera footage of what was going on, but all he got was a face full of Big's stomach; the fat cat destroyed the security camera with his stomach.

"Get that fat off of my mech!" Dr. Eggman growled. He smashed a button on his control panel, which caused the right hand to rise up; its grabbling fingers shot up into the air and started aiming for Big. "Out of my sight!"

"Big, watch out!" Synergy shouted. He grabbed the cat and pushed him out of the way, but the grappling fingers wrapped itself around the Gizoid's body. The Egg Burner spun the Gizoid around and slammed him in the ground. This caused the stone ground to break underneath them. Synergy and the Egg Burner fell through the ground and landed on the platform below.

Big reached into Hammerspace and pulled out his umbrella; he floated down safely and helped Synergy up on his feet. Dr. Eggman looked up and saw that the Egg Burner was sitting down on the ground. He smashed some buttons, pulled some levers, and flipped some switches, trying to get the Egg Burner back on its feet.

But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't it back on its feet.

This gave Synergy and Big the chance to attack.

Synergy's Knuckles Emulation activated, and he started punching the heck out of Eggman's mech. Big the Cat jumped up and body slammed on top of it for a bit before he slammed on the ground. He got back up and took out his fishing rod. _**(3s)**_

 _ **(4)**_ "Synergy, hop on my shoulders! I have an idea!" he called. Synergy looked over to him and nodded his head. He jumped on Big's shoulders before he looked down and noticed that Big was taking out his fishing rod. "I did this move with my good friends, Amy and Cream. You curl into a ball and I smack you into Eggman's enemies. You don't have to do this if you don't want to, but it's just my idea."

"If it gets this fat man out of my sight, then let's do it!" Synergy nodded. He curled into a ball and felt Big's fishing rod hit him in the back. He shot right into the Egg Burner's stomach before lunging back towards Big.

Like a baseball bat hitting a ball, Big whacked Synergy into the Egg Burner five times.

The sixth time they did it, The Egg Burner grabbed Synergy and chucked him over its shoulder. Big the Cat charged, ready to body slam the mech, but the Egg Burner kicked the cat in the chest, sending him flying across the forest.

Getting off the ground, Synergy saw his best friend flying across the starry night sky. "Big!" he yelled with concern. He was about to fly up and save him, but the Egg Burner's massive size blocked his path. It raised its fists and started firing punches at Synergy. The Gizoid dodged the attacks from the left to the right. He jumped over the Egg Burner's kick attack before quickly ducking underneath its punch attack.

The Egg Burner reached down to grab the robot, but Synergy's Chaos claws smacked the metallic hands. He then punched the stomach of the robot before scratching it. He slid between its legs and scratched both its legs. Huge scratch marks were left on both the Egg Burner's legs.

"Hey!" Dr. Eggman shouted. "Do you know how expensive that red paint is!?"

Synergy raced to save Big, but the Egg Burner pummeled him into the ground. It grabbed him by his legs and spun him around like a wrecking ball.

"Let's see you copy _this!_ " Dr. Eggman shouted. The Egg Burner chucked Synergy straight into a randomly placed slot machine. Synergy fell on the ground; pieces of debris fell right next to him. The blue/green Gizoid got up and snarled. His left hand morphed into a machine gun while his right hand was normal.

"Chaos Spear!" he snarled. He shot a golden spear at the Egg Burner; it nearly sliced Dr. Eggman's head off. The doctor gasped with worry before he growled. He shot a few missiles at the Gizoid, but they had no effect on him. "This world is mine, Eggman! This is _my_ kingdom!"

" _Your_ kingdom!?" Dr. Eggman snarled. He slammed the Egg Burner's fist against the robot's chest, slamming him into the murky ground. "This world is mine for the taking!"

"Wanna bet on that!?" Synergy grunted. He wrapped his Chaos claws around the massive hand. With all of his strength, he flipped the Egg Burner over him. It fell, face first, into the ground. But the Egg Burner was quick to get back up on its feet. It started running after the Gizoid, who was flying after Big.

"Get back here, you pest!" Dr. Eggman demanded.

As the Egg Burner gave chase to the Gizoid, Synergy flew upward to save Big from falling to his doom. However, as soon as he got up there, he discovered that Big was floating down softly thanks to his yellow umbrella. Froggy jumped at the sight of Synergy, as he and the cat landed on top of a slot machine. Synergy landed next to them, confused.

"Did you have that with you the whole time?" he asked.

"Yep!" Big nodded. "I never go anywhere without my fishing rod, my lucky umbrella," Big then turned around him and pulled out a light green shirt that had a picture of Froggy surrounded by a heart. "And my Froggy T-shirt!" he stored it back into Hammerspace.

Synergy rubbed his head in confusion, but he and Big's moment of piece of interrupted because the Egg Burner jumped on the side of the machine. He started shaking all of the rings and other pieces out of the machine, trying to get Synergy and Big to fall off.

The two of them fell off the side of the machine, only to look up and see that the Egg Burner was about to throw it down at them. He did so, and in the process, Synergy and Big leaped out of the way, landing on the other side of the casino.

The two of them took off running.

"Quit running from me!" Dr. Eggman shouted. He sent a bunch of fluttering missiles after them. But all they did was crash into the walls and obstacles. Nothing but muddy stones and purple circles fell on the ground.

"I'm tired of running from this guy!" Synergy snarled. He stopped in his tracks and morphed his hands into machine guns. "Let's kill this dullard!"

"Hold on, Synergy!" Big said, putting his hand on Synergy's shoulder. "We can't attack him head on. We need a plan. Isn't that what a king would do?"

Synergy looked to the side. He hated that plan, but he figured if he wanted to get out of this alive, he would have to listen.

"What's the plan?" he asked. _**(4s)**_

* * *

Meanwhile. Back at Windmill Village. _**(5)**_

Shade the Echidna poured herself and Blaze a small cup of tea. She placed her teapot against the table and took a sip of her drink.

Cream the Rabbit was sitting on the floor. She and Cheese were no longer playing with the toys Shade was kind enough to let Cream play with. Instead, they were just watching G-merl, who was still astonished that Goat was none other than Shade the Echidna; a former member of the Nocturnus Clan. If he had a mouth, his jaw would drop to the floor. He just sat there by the couch, focusing his three blue eyes on Shade.

Shade looked a lot different than she did 4,000 years ago. Instead of her black and purple armor, she had a casual outfit. She wore a black tank top with a design of a purple ruby in the middle and she wore white shorts with a black belt. She had white gloves with black cuffs around her wrists; the same could be said about her shoes. To top it all off, she had a pair of pink goggles with white straps.

Shade, noticing that G-merl was watching her, placed her drink down and smiled.

"Are you going to say something, G-merl?" she chuckled. "You've been staring at me for ten minutes."

"Huh?" G-merl said, breaking out of his daze. "S-sorry. I'm just… shocked. I can't believe you're here."

"Yeah, I've been living here for a while. I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself sooner. Normally, I do not walk around this town as a purple cloaked figure named Goat. I do that whenever intruders come along," Shade said. "It's good to see you all again."

G-merl got off the couch and walked over to Shade. He sat down next to Blaze by the table. Cream joined him and sat next to him.

"How did you get here, Ms. Shade?" Cream asked.

"When I left Knuckles, Sonic, and the others, I spent a couple of days on the road," Shade replied. "Going to where my heart took me. Eventually, I wound up discovering an old town in the Mystic Ruins. There, I met Elder Scruffy, who gave me a home and a job. It's nice here. Not a lot of intruders show up, but once in a full moon, some brigands are stupid enough to show their ugly mugs."

G-merl, Blaze, and Cream looked at each other. They wondered what caused Shade to leave Knuckles and Sonic in the first place. They watched her take a sip of her tea.

"Shade," G-merl said. "We have a situation. A few days ago, I've been having- "

"Flashbacks about Project: Synergy?" Shade replied, sipping her tea again. "It was only a matter of time before you had those."

"It doesn't make sense," G-merl said, placing a hand on his head. "My body was created by Dr. Eggman, but my biodata comes from my predecessor, Emerl. Why didn't I have these flashbacks sooner?"

"Perhaps, they're warning you of what's to come," Shade said.

"Which is why the Sol Emeralds brought me here," Blaze said. She stood up and motioned to the echidna. "Shade, we went to see Sonic and Tails a few days ago, but they left a note saying that they came here to look for an evil they discovered in Sylvania Castle Zone. We're speculating that they're after Project: Synergy."

"Correct you are," Shade said. "I was traveling around the Mystic Ruins one morning, when I suddenly saw him crash into the water. I hid behind the trees to get a closer look, and I realized it _was_ him. Before I could do anything, I saw Big the Cat fish him out of the water. Surprisingly, the two seemed to get along fine, but Big doesn't know how manipulative Synergy could be. He got that from my old boss."

Cream lowered her head in sadness. She felt terrible that Big the Cat: A gentle giant was involved in all of this.

"I watched them for a day and prepared to save Big from Synergy, but a ruckus in the woods drove me away from them," Shade continued. "When I went to investigate, I found Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails fighting two skunks. After the fight, they chased after Synergy, who captured Big and left the area. Sonic and his friends followed close behind."

"So… they're not here?" Cream said. She and Cheese let out a low sigh. "We missed them."

"Not to worry, Kiddo," G-merl said, reassuring Cream. "We'll find them soon."

"Shade," Blaze said. "If this robot is dangerous, then we have to stop him!"

"No, _you_ have to stop him," Shade replied with a low tone. "I will no longer associate myself with the Nocturnus Clan."

"What do you mean?" Blaze asked.

"For as long as I could remember, I've done nothing but fight under Imperator Ix's control. He lied to me, used me, controlled me like a puppet! He forced me to injure many members of the Knuckles Clan. I was forced to hurt innocents!"

"This is a pretty hardcore origin story," G-merl said. Blaze smacked the Gizoid's arm.

"As much as I would like to help you," Shade said, getting up from her seat. "I can't…. and I'm sorry."

Just then, an alarm clock went off, which scared Cream and Cheese. G-merl quickly looked towards the clock, hearing it go off. Shade walked over to the clock and shut it off.

"I have to go, and you should do the same," she said. She opened her closet and took out a small hat with a windmill stitched into it. She placed it on her head and opened her door. "It was nice seeing you all again. I wish you all nothing but the best."

She closed the door.

G-merl, Cream, and Blaze were left alone in the room.

What was wrong with Shade? Why was she acting like this? The three heroes wondered what happened to their friend. Cream, who knew Shade longer than both G-merl and Blaze, was curious as to why Shade was acting this way. The last time she checked, Shade was much like Knuckles: tough, disciplined, loyal, and is not afraid to stand up for what she believes in.

Cream knew for a fact that Shade would never ignore something as serious as G-merl's flashbacks. Speaking of the Gizoid, he and Blaze slowly walked around Shade's house, wondering what her problem was.

The two of them had a small discussion, talking about the possibility of Shade hiding something important.

But deep down in her heart, Cream knew Shade was devastated. _**(5s)**_

 _ **END OF CHAPTER 18**_

* * *

 _What's wrong with Shade? Why is she acting this way? I guess we will have to find out as the story progresses further and further. We may be in the second half of the story, but we still have a long way to go. As seen in the beginning, we saw the arrival of three new characters in the form of Nack the Weasel, Bean the Dynamite Duck, and Bark the Polar Bear. We will see them very soon. Looks like Synergy and Big were starting to get along and the former was starting to learn a thing or two, but Dr. Eggman had to cause a fuss. We'll see what happens to both Synergy and Big, as the battle continues in..._

 _"Chapter 19: Clash of the Villains: Part 2"_

* * *

 ** _POST-A/N:_**

 _I know that I kind of spoiled the appearance of Team Hooligan (Nack the Weasel, Bean the Dynamite, and Bark the Polar Bear) but I couldn't help it. I've wanted to include them here for a while after the inclusion of Mighty and Ray. They won't be shoehorned in here, but they will play a minor role in here. That, and they'll do something that they're gonna regret._

 _Sorry that Synergy has been absent for a while. I've been wanting to integrate Shade into the story (Finally) as well as introduce Tangle the Lemur. That, and I've wanted to show more interactions between the other characters. Synergy will be in the next few chapters along with Big._

 _So, a lot of people like G-merl's flashbacks. I can understand why, so I decided to have Synergy take a crack at it. He and G-merl will have a full origin story soon. We'll see how they end up in the positions they are today. Shade will explain that origin and we will have a chapter that explains what happened to her after the events of Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, but that's a story for another day._

 _Shade's causal outfit is inspired by a piece of fan art that I saw of her. I'd imagine that after the events of Chronicles, she would have gotten rid of her armor._

 _As always, don't forget to fav/follow/review, etc! Thank you all so much for reading. I'm The Sensational SpiderDom321 and I'll see you all next time!_

 _~SD321 (SpiderDom321)_


	19. Clash of the Villains Pt 2

_**A/N:** Awakened has reached over **90 reviews!** and has over **3,100 views** and counting! I cannot express how much this means to me! I want to give a big shoutout to everyone who has favorited and followed the story up to this point. We're almost up to 20 chapters and I cannot believe I haven't gotten Writer's Block yet! That's amazing! Anyways, thank you for getting me this far! You guys are the reason why I keep this story going!_

 ** _Suggested Music:_**

 ** _(1) Twilight Town - Kingdom Hearts 3 OST_**

 ** _(2) Kraven - Thrill of the Hunt - Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions OST_**

 _Without further ado, enjoy the show!_

* * *

 **Clash of the Villains: Part 2**

In Dr. Eggman's base in Metropolis, Knuckles the Echidna broke down the door with his fist.

The steel door collapsed onto the ground, making a loud ringing sound across the room.

Sonic stepped into the room. Tangle, Whisper, Mighty, Ray, Silver, Amy, and Tails were by his side. Knuckles wiped his hands off, as he followed everyone else into the lair.

"Yo, Egghead," Sonic smirked. "Your door's broken… Egghead?"

There was no answer. Everything was still there from before. Blueprints of scrapped Eggman inventions were placed all over the area. Badnik parts scattered the metallic ground, and the Eggnet computer shined its blue light around the lair. The Resistance walked into the lair, looking for any signs of Eggman and/or Starline, but they found no such thing.

Tangle, Mighty, and Ray walked ahead and went inside the arcade. Tangle was fascinated by the number of video games Dr. Eggman had at his disposal. Mighty looked around, rolling his eyes at the comic book-like posters of Dr. Eggman beating up Sonic and taking over the world. Ray was distracted by the posters' bright and colorful artwork.

Tails instantly made a run for the computer. He sat himself down on the chair and began scrolling through the Eggnet for answers.

Silver and Whisper slowly analyzed all of the robot prototypes the mad doctor was planning to make. The former nodded his head while the latter was disgusted. She snarled and growled at the blueprints, wanting to tear them apart. Silver looked down at Whisper, as she tightened her cloak around her, worried that she might do something she'd regret.

He decided to keep a close eye on her.

Amy joined Knuckles in exploring Eggman's lair. They saw a bunch of papers on the desk that had pictures of Dr. Eggman's journal entries. They flipped through them. It was a little hard to do that when all of the papers were disorganized.

"Eggman!? Starline!?" Sonic said again. "Where are you?"

There was no answer from anyone. It was so silent in Eggman's lair, everyone heard the sound of crickets… or so they thought.

"Who's making those cricket sounds?" Mighty asked.

"Sorry," Tangle said. "That was me." She turned off the noise maker on the Miles Electric Tails gave her a while ago. "So, is this what you guys do all the time? Chase after bad guys? If that's the case, that's _so_ cool!"

"It's a lot more fun when the bad guy's actually _here!_ " Sonic grunted. "Where is everyone?"

"They must have anticipated our arrival when Knuckles jumped through that wormhole," Silver said. "But it looks like they didn't get everything out in time. A lot of Eggman's supplies were left behind."

"Which makes our job a lot easier," Mighty replied. He walked up to Silver and Whisper. "Any idea where they could be?"

"That's what I'm looking for," Tails nodded. "Hopefully, they didn't get too far."

"Eww," Tangle said. She cringed at the foosball in front of her.

Everyone turned around, curious as to what the lemur was grossed out at.

"What's wrong, Tangle?" Tails inquired.

"You know this foosball table over here?" the lemur replied. "The foosball is shaped like Sonic's head!"

Everyone in the room cringed, except Whisper, who couldn't care less.

"Gross!" Amy said.

Suddenly, Whisper snarled at the blueprints and drew her Variable Wispon, transforming it into Cube Mode. She raised her hammer in the air and slammed it against the table, breaking it in half. Papers and chips of scrap metal fell on the floor.

Knuckles and Amy looked up from where they were standing; they watched Whisper slam her hammer against the wall.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Knuckles growled, pointing at the wolf. "What's she doing!?"

"Guardian Angel, wait!" Silver said. He tried to stop Whisper, but the wolf smacked his hand and howled at him.

" _Stay back! Let me do this!"_ Whisper replied with a cold tone. She raced over to where Knuckles and Amy were standing, ready to destroy what could evidence of Eggman's plan. Knuckles and Amy tried to stop her, but Whisper pushed Amy aside and quarreled with Knuckles.

The two didn't fight, but as Silver looked at their faces, it looked like a donnybrook was about to erupt.

"Wait, stop!" Silver said with worry. He rushed in to stop Whisper, but Sonic cut in, standing between the echidna and the wolf.

"Hold up there, Whisper," Sonic said calmly. He placed his hands against Whisper and Knuckles' chests, trying to keep them apart. "You can tear this place apart once we get intel on Egghead's location, okay?"

Whisper was about to retort, but she turned around and saw the worried look on Silver's face. Tangle was worried as well, and Mighty and Ray were taking a few steps back; they didn't want any part of this. Tails looked over the monitor and saw the damage that Whisper had done to the left side of the room.

Everyone was gaping at her.

Whisper lowered her head in shame and let out a low sigh. The Cube Wisp hovered out of the weapon and gave her a small hug. The other Wisps did the same thing. The humble canine hugged them back, as she stored her Wispon back into her holster.

" _Sorry. I can wait,"_ she smiled. Silver rubbed his arm and lowered his head in shame. He felt bad that Whisper had some kind of grudge against Eggman. Before he joined the others in looking for the doctor, Shadow told him she attacked him in White Park and that she looked to have a grudge against Eggman. He sighed and looked at her, feeling pity for her inner pain.

"Have you found anything, Tails?" Amy asked.

"I may not have a lead on Eggman's location, but I found something else," the kitsune replied. "Everyone, come here. You're gonna wanna see this."

The Resistance placed down the evidence they were looking at and ran over to Tails. They were all presented with a picture of a grey-colored Gizoid, one that highly resembled Emerl.

Amy, Sonic, and Knuckles shared small gasps and nods. Silver, Mighty, Ray, Tangle, and Whisper were intrigued.

"Look familiar?" Tails asked, pointing to the picture.

"That's Emerl, right?" Knuckles pointed.

"Not quite," Tails replied. "Look,"

Everyone began reading the journal entry next to the images of the gray Gizoids.

 _Dear Diary,_

 _Can you actually believe there's another Gizoid out in the world? The last one I experimented on betrayed me in an instant. G-merl just snatched all the Chaos Emeralds and ran off. What a tyrant! I thought I would be done with the Gizoids, when suddenly, a bright-minded fellow named Starline comes along, telling me about an ancient robot named Synergy._

 _I've seen that Gizoid in battle against Sonic in Soleanna and I gotta say, Starline knows how to pick em' because he's great! I'm on my way to capture him right now while Starline assembles my army together. You see, my thought process is… why have one Gizoid when you can have a whole army of Gizoids?_

 _I plan to build an entire army of war machines just like Imperator Ix of the Nocturnus Clan did a millennial ago! Once I have my army, I will rule the world, and Sonic will not stand a chance against me. Mwa-hahahahahahahaha!_

 _Yours truly,_

 _Dr. Ivo Robotnik._

"He even laughs in his diaries," Amy said, rolling her eyes.

"This is bad," Silver said. "Eggman will kill us all if he has an armada of those things!"

"Speaking of which," Tails said. "…has anyone been in contact with G-merl?" _**(1)**_

* * *

The black and yellow Gizoid walked around Windmill Village. A couple of minutes after his reunion with Shade. He, Cream, and Blaze decided to look for her after she stormed out of her house. As they walked down the grassy street, they were getting mixed reactions from people.

A group of cows looked at G-merl and were in awe because of the way he was designed. Three female cows smiled and seductively waved their hooves at the robot. The Gizoid, not knowing how to respond to that, just nonchalantly waved back.

A group of crows, on the other hand, backed away from the rabbit, the cat, and the robot. They hid their faces beneath their wings, acting as if they were invisible.

G-merl tilted his head, confused.

"I could still see you," he said to the crows. The black birds squawked in fear, as they ran away from the robot. "I expected that."

Blaze lightly tapped G-merl's shoulder, "Don't let them get to you. I know people will warm up to you soon."

"How soon?" G-merl asked. "I'm tired of people looking at me like I'm a monster."

"You're not a monster, G-merl," Cream smiled. "You're my big brother."

"Heh," G-merl chuckled, rubbing Cream's head. "Thanks, Kiddo."

Suddenly, the three of them came to a stop once they heard the sound of a whistle. They looked over to the right and saw Shade the Echidna in the distance. She was wearing the same outfit from before, but she had a hat on as well as a sash with many badges on it. She was walking with what looked to be a group of cub scouts. All of the kids in the group looked to be around the range of six to nine-years-old, and they were noisy.

All of them were chatting and running around in circles, causing Shade to stop in her tracks. She turned around and tried to get the kids back in line.

"There's Ms. Shade!" Cream pointed. "But what's she doing?" Cheese shrugged his shoulders.

"Let's have a look, shall we?" G-merl said, as he led the group to Shade's location.

When they got there, they stood to the side, watching as Shade spoke to the kids.

"Come on, kids!" Shade said in a gentle tone. "We talked about this. No running out of line unless you're on fire, dying, or if you have ants in your pants."

"Sorry, Scout Master Shade!" said a young walrus. "But we're so excited about camping!"

"I want to build a fire _so_ big, it could roast a thousand marshmallows!" squealed a female goat.

"I want to make S'mores!" said a female dragon. She flew around Shade's head before accidentally crashing into her friends. Shade helped them up on their feet.

"And I want to play in those green plants with green leaves," said a male coyote. "You know the ones that give your skin those red marks?"

"All right, all right, _all right!_ " Shade said. She was both shouting and chuckling. "We'll do all of those things, except the last part, when we walk to our spot!"

All of the kids lowered their heads and moaned. Cream and G-merl laughed when they saw that. Blaze just let out a gentle smile.

"Walking is so boring!" said a male rabbit. "It's so quiet!"

"Scout Master Shade," said a tiny aardvark. Shade picked up the tiny male and held him in her arms. "Can you sing us a song?"

All of the kids nodded and begged Shade to play them a gentle tune.

"I'd love to, guys," Shade said softly. She giggled. "But I don't have my acoustic guitar with me."

Cream and G-merl walked up to Shade. G-merl's presence spooked the kids.

"If you want, G-merl and I could play something," Cream offered.

"Look out!" shouted a male turtle. "It's an Eggman Robot!"

The kids started to run around as if it was the end of the world. G-merl and Cream just stood there and watched the kids. G-merl bowed his head in shame; Cream gave him a small hug to make him feel better. Blaze walked up and watched as Shade tried to calm the kids down.

The three heroes looked at each other, trying to figure out what to do when suddenly, an idea sparked into Blaze's mind. She snapped her fingers and gathered Cream and G-merl around. They spoke of an idea for two minutes.

"Why are we just whispering?" G-merl asked. "We're not really saying anything."

Cream whistled to the kids and caught their attention. All of them froze, including Shade.

"Please, everyone," Cream said. "G-merl's not a bad robot; he's a good robot. He's kind, sweet, and he plays with me all the time."

"Oh, yeah!?" said a sassy female hippo. "Prove it!"

Cream and G-merl looked at each other before they smiled. _**(1s)**_

* * *

 _ **(2)**_ "Get a load of this!" Dr. Eggman shouted at Big and Synergy. He raised the Egg Burner's arm and shot more fluttering missiles towards them.

Big screamed at the top of his lungs and ran down the pathway while Synergy shot all the projectiles down with his Chaos Spears. He ran alongside Big before he looked back to see that Dr. Eggman wasn't giving up so easily; the Egg Burner was still running after them.

"Doesn't this guy ever quit?" Synergy asked. "Okay, Big, what was your plan again?"

"We have to use the environment," Big replied. "We'll have to surprise him."

"It's amazing. You say you don't fight a lot, but here you are, talking about a battle plan." Synergy said.

"Yeah, Tails and Sonic teach me a lot of these things," Big smiled. He and Synergy looked around Casino Forest for a place to hide. They eventually found a location and decided to put their plan into action. They looked up at the moon and the stars before turning back at Dr. Eggman.

"I have you now!" Dr. Eggman scowled. Right before, Synergy shot the ground with four Chaos Spears. A puff of smoke covered him and Big like a blanket. The Egg Burner ran through the smoke and stepped on the ground, where it thought it squashed the two combatants.

The Egg Burner lifted its foot off the ground and saw that the two fighters were gone.

"What?" Dr. Eggman said. Orbot and Cubot scratched their heads. "Where did they go!? Orbot, Cubot, find them!"

"Where do you want _us_ to look!?" Orbot said. "Doesn't this invention have night vision?"

"Do we have night vision?" Cubot asked. "Or better yet, what about day vision?"

"Just shut up and look for them!" Dr. Eggman demanded. He and his two lackeys searched around the forest.

Unbeknownst to them, the two allies were hiding in a tall tree, blending in with the shadows.

Big was hanging on a tree branch while Synergy was standing on top of the branch above him.

"What now, Big?" Synergy asked.

"Hmm… honestly, I didn't think we'd get this far," Big replied.

Synergy facepalmed himself. "Oh, for the love of- "

"Wait, I remember something!" Big said, snapping his fingers. He rubbed his head as if he was a telepath trying to collect thoughts. "Ah-ha!"

"Shh!" Synergy said, whispering. "He's gonna hear you!"

"Sorry… but Sonic told me that if Eggman ever attacked me, I should always aim for the head."

"Aim for the head… what does that mean?... wait…. Ohhhhh…."

Synergy looked down and focused his green eyes on the Egg Burner's cockpit: the source to the robot. He nodded his head and snapped his fingers.

"Big, I said it once and I'll say it again," Synergy said in a happy tone. "You're a genius."

But unbeknownst to Big and Synergy, a lone G.U.N. soldier was watching them from below. He took out his communicator and whispered into it. "This is Agent Yuji to base. I have eyes on the suspects in Casino Forest. Send in the Arsenal."

" _SHOW YOURSELF, SYNERGY!_ " Dr. Eggman howled.

 _ **SLASH!**_

A shadow of Synergy came out and scratched the Egg Mobile.

"Ow!" Dr. Eggman snarled. "Who did that!?"

Suddenly, the shadow of Big came out and body slammed on top of the Egg Mobile, leaving a crack on top of the glass. Big jumped off and grabbed onto Synergy's hands. The Gizoid flew himself and the cat back in the shadows.

"Stop playing games!" the doctor shouted.

Synergy rolled into a ball and homing attacked the Egg Mobile three times. Big whipped out his fishing rod and smacked the Egg Mobile with it. Surprisingly, it did some damage to it. Dr. Eggman watched as the two shadows went back into hiding, which forced him to take matters into his own hands.

"It's time to show you why this is called the _Egg Burner!_ " Dr. Eggman snarled. He pressed a button on his console and raised the Egg Burner's arms. Within a second, it shot out a streak of flames. The flames covered the forest and set the trees all ablaze. "You gonna come out now, Synergy!?"

As the doctor set fire to the forest, he was unaware that Synergy and Big were flying over his head.

They exchanged a nod, preparing to finish the fight.

Synergy's hands morphed into the Knuckles Fists. He and Big suddenly began twirling around in a downward spiral. Shooting down towards the Egg Mobile, they formed a purple and blue spiral in the sky.

Cubot and Orbot noticed this and poked their boss on the shoulder.

"Uh… boss," Cubot said.

"What do you want?" Dr. Eggman growled. He looked up and saw the spiral heading for him. He gulped. "Mama Robotnik!" _**(2s)**_

Dr. Eggman slammed his hands on a button and the Egg Mobile flew out of the cockpit, leaving the Egg Burner by itself. Synergy and Big pierced through the giant mechanism, which caused an explosion that could be heard in the next area over.

As pieces of scrap metal shot across the sky, Dr. Eggman saw that Big and Synergy landed on the ground. He was going to do his usual "This isn't the last you'll see of me!" gag, but he realized that Synergy wasn't done.

Big took out his fishing rod and allowed Synergy to grab the end of it. Big yanked Synergy backward before shooting him at the Egg Mobile. It was at that moment where Synergy curled into a ball and homing attacked the Egg Mobile out of the sky.

Dr. Eggman, Orbot, and Cubot landed on the ground; they shot out of the Egg Mobile and tumbled across the dirt. Synergy and Big ran up to them before the former slowly walked over to Dr. Eggman.

The mad doctor whipped out a blaster and shot Synergy three times, but that didn't stop the Gizoid from reaching his Chaos Claw out and smacking the gun out of Eggman's hand. He then wrapped his fingers around Eggman's neck, holding him up in the air.

As the fat man coughed, gasping for air, Synergy sneered. "Give me one reason why I shouldn't kill you right now! It's clear you're going to come after me again, so I figure I'd end this little feud between us now!"

"Synergy, wait!" Big said. "Don't do that!"

"Stay out of this, Big!" Synergy snarled. "I'm the king of this world, so I'll make the decisions!"

"But if you do that, you'll be just as bad as he is!" Big replied. "Please, don't do this!"

"In the Nocturnus Clan, the only way we could get our enemies to relent was through brute force! This man is begging to be demolished!"

Just then, the sound of a sonic boom caught the Gizoid off guard, so did the cat. They looked up and were shocked to see that something was raining down from the sky. It was a large shadowy figure, one that was big and bulky. Synergy reluctantly released Dr. Eggman and jumped backward; the figure landed on the ground and created a puff of smoke.

Synergy skidded towards Big; the two of them looked to see who the figure was.

The figure started talking, "THIS IS E-123 OMEGA. SUBJECTS IDENTIFIED: SYNERGY AND BIG THE CAT. VISUAL ON SUSPECTS. SUSPECTS WILL NOW BE ELIMINATED!"

E-123 Omega; a red, black, and yellow robot aimed his hands at Synergy and Big. His hands transformed into rocket launchers.

"Who's this!?" Synergy asked with a frightful tone.

"U-um… I don't remember," Big said. "Excuse me, Mr. Robot. Have we met before?"

"SUSPECTS ARE ORDERED TO STAND DOWN!" Omega replied. "IF YOU DO NOT SURRENDER, THERE WILL BE CONSEQUENCES."

Dr. Eggman slowly tip-toed into the bushes. He hid alongside Orbot and Cubot.

"Consequences?" Synergy snarled. "I'll show _you_ consequences!"

"Synergy, no!" Big said with worry. He tried to stop the Gizoid from fighting, but Synergy quickly transformed into his Chaos Emulation. Omega started firing an armada of missiles and rockets at the ancient drone. Synergy blocked most of the projectiles with his water shield before he smacked Omega against the trees.

The member of Team Dark quickly recovered and flew up to Synergy's face, delivering a powerful punch.

"Please, stop, guys!" Big said. "We don't want to fight!"

Some G.U.N. soldiers from behind the trees came out and aimed their guns at Big.

"Freeze, hands in the air!" one of them said. "Don't make this hard, just get down!"

Big raised his hands in the air. Froggy raised his webbed feet.

Omega punched the Gizoid's face before Synergy slammed Omega against the ground. He turned and saw that Big was being arrested by G.U.N. His green eyes widened and his let out a loud howl. He smacked all the soldiers with ease, grabbing Big with his hand. He placed the cat on his back.

Omega recovered and prepared to punch Synergy again, but the Gizoid grabbed the robot and slammed him against the tree.

"Stay down, you useless piece of scrap!" Synergy snarled. He jumped off the platform and began running down the pathway. An army of soldiers and Omega ran after him. Within a few seconds, Synergy jumped off the platform and began sliding down the waterslide of the Mystic Jungle, also known as the Aqua Road.

As he and Big slid down at rapid speed, G.U.N. soldiers and Omega stopped in their tracks.

They lost sight of the wanted criminals.

"All units," said one agent into his communicator. "Be on the lookout for Big the Cat and Project: Synergy. They've escaped our sights." He hung up his communicator and turned to Omega. "E-123 Omega, find them and bring them down to justice!"

"SUSPECTS WILL BE FOUND AND TERMINATED!" Omega replied.

* * *

Meanwhile. At Resistance HQ.

Shadow the Hedgehog stepped into the Command Center, where he found Rouge the Bat sitting by the computer. She was looking at pictures of jewels. She drooled over the gorgeous images until she heard the voice of Shadow.

"What are you doing?" the black hedgehog asked. Rouge jumped and closed her webpage at the speed of light.

"Nothing!" Rouge smiled awkwardly. "I wasn't doing anything! Stop looking at me like that, Shadz!"

Shadow rolled his eyes. "I hope that nickname dies soon. Anyways, we have a problem."

"What else is new?" Rouge asked. "Talk to me, Goose."

"I just received a call from Commander Tower. Omega and a few G.U.N. agents found Synergy in the Mystic Jungle."

"Great! Did they get him?"

"…No."

Rouge rolled her eyes and facepalmed. "Great! Omega had _one_ job!"

"But that's not the problem. The problem is that Omega's involved in this now, and we both know that Omega doesn't follow directions. I contacted him and he told me that Synergy and Big are to be terminated at once."

"You got to be kidding me," Rouge replied. "Amy's gonna freak the heck out when she hears this."

"It gets worse," Shadow continued. "Eggman was there too. He got away too."

"Oh, boy," Rouge moaned. "You know what this means, right? If G.U.N. and Omega are after Amy's close friend, it means they'll stop at nothing until he's arrested. Since Amy's nagging me about how innocent he is, we're gonna have to break the law."

Suddenly, the voice of Vector filled the room. " _WHAT!?_ "

Shadow and Rouge looked over and saw Team Chaotix playing cards at the table beside them.

"How long have you guys been standing there?" Shadow asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Long enough, you hyenas criminals!" Charmy said, pointing at both the bat and the hedgehog.

"Charmy, it's _heinous_ criminals," Espio said.

"We're not criminals," Shadow scowled. "We're just trying to help you."

"That's ridiculous!" Vector retorted, slamming his fist on the desk. "We're Team Chaotix Detective Agency; we're supposed to _protect_ the law, not go _against_ it!"

"Sorry, boys," Rouge said. "But some rules are meant to be broken."

The interlocutors halted their conversation once Knuckles, Mighty, and Ray entered the room. Mighty had a box of Chinese food in his hands. The remaining members were sent to look for G-merl.

"Who wants Chinese food?" Mighty asked with a smile. He placed it down on the table. As soon as he did that, Espio grabbed the box of sweet and sour chicken. He dipped a piece into the sauce and took a bite.

"I can't believe you guys are talking about this!" Vector growled. "Oh, is that an egg roll?" he grabbed an egg roll, unwrapped it from the paper, and took a bite. As he chewed, he spoke with his mouth full of food. "You should be ashamed of yourselves!"

"W-w-what's g-g-g-g-going o-on?" Ray asked.

"Shadow and Rouge want to break the law!" Charmy replied.

"W-what?" Ray asked nervously.

"Sometimes the law needs to be broken for the greater good," Shadow addressed the Chaotix. "You may disagree with our methods, but if you want your cat friend to be saved, then it's our only course of action."

"There's no way we can allow you to do that!" Knuckles exclaimed.

Rouge exhaled, as she folded her wings. She shot a sympathetic glance at Knuckles and the Chaotix. "If it's the only way to prove Big's innocence, then Shadow's right. If you get in our way, we'll have to fight you."

Knuckles and the Chaotix didn't know how to respond that. Was Rouge serious? They didn't think she would go as far as to betray her own organization. They found it more shocking that Shadow, a well-disciplined hedgehog, would go along with this as well.

The three detectives didn't know what to do, so they just dug into their Chinese food.

Mighty and Ray exchanged nervous looks. The armadillo wrapped his arm around the squirrel to ease his nervousness.

But it all fell down on Knuckles. He was the Commander. This was _his_ call. He didn't know what to do about this. During the War, Eggman controlled the law and set up a dictatorship around Mobius. Knuckles lead the Resistance against him in a fight for freedom. But this… this was different.

He let out a low sigh, not knowing what decision to lean towards.

Suddenly, Espio came up with a suggestion.

"If I were to make a suggestion," he said. "While I disagree with going against the law. I must admit… this might be our only chance at saving Big. We tried to reason with the G.U.N. before, but that didn't go as well as planned."

"Hey, I said I was sorry," Knuckles said.

"They only believe the stuff that Brenda makes on the news, so it's up to us now. In other words… we're on our own."

Knuckles, Vector, Charmy, Mighty, and Ray were focused on Espio's words.

"But of course," the chameleon continued. "It's your call, Knuckles."

The Commander thought about his next decision. Mighty and Ray turned to him, eager to hear his decision.

Rouge and Shadow looked at each other and watched as Knuckles thought about his choices.

Knuckles finally exhaled and spoke to his teammates, "Where was Big last spotted?"

"In the Mystic Jungle," Shadow replied.

Knuckles cracked his fists and gave his orders, "Shadow, Rouge, find Omega and convince him to join us. Chaotix, Mighty, Ray, you're with me. We're heading down to the jungle to find Eggman."

Shadow nodded and began walking out the door. Rouge smiled and stroked Knuckles' shoulder.

"How does it feel breaking the law?" Rouge asked with a chuckle.

"Get going," Knuckles replied. Rouge and Shadow left Resistance HQ. Team Chaotix got up from their seats and smiled at their Commander. "All right, team. Let's do it to it!"

"Wait," said Charmy, raising his hand. "Can we bring the food?"

Knuckles rolled his eyes and smiled. "Sure,"

"Sweet!" Vector replied. He clapped his hands and grabbed the box. Everyone started walking out Resistance HQ.

* * *

Inside the Final Egg in the Mystic Ruins, Dr. Starline was working on getting the computers up and running while Rough and Tumble were loading a bunch of boxes in the corner. After the fight in Green Hill City, the three of them remembered that Knuckles briefly entered the wormhole and saw Eggman's base in Metropolis. So, afraid that Knuckles and the Resistance would quickly ambush the base of operations, Starline used his Warp Topaz to transport the supplies he needed from the Imperial Tower to here.

The skunk brothers carried the boxes back and forth, dropping them on the ground.

Starline turned around and scoffed at the skunks. "Be careful with that! There's years of research in there!"

Rough and Tumble rolled their eyes, annoyed at how much Starline kisses up to Eggman.

Speaking of the platypus, his communicator started ringing. Starline answered the call and saw Dr. Eggman's face pop up on screen.

"Hello, Doctor," Starline greeted. "Fruitful mission?"

Dr. Eggman snarled as a response, _"If by that, you mean I caught that mindless drone? Then, no! He escaped! G.U.N. and their little mascot showed up and tried to kill him and the cat! They escaped into the jungle!"_

"No worries, Doctor," Starline replied. "I'm sure we'll catch him next time!"

" _Hold on, I wasn't finished,"_ said Dr. Eggman. _"I came back to the base and I found out all of my stuff has been stolen and_ _ **destroyed!**_ _What happened!?"_

Starline hesitated to answer at first, but he let out a low sigh and kept his calm composure. "Rough and Tumble were defeated by the hands of the Resistance earlier today. I teleported them back to Metropolis using the Warp Topaz, however, Commander Knuckles of the Resistance fell through the wormhole and discovered my location. So, anticipating the Resistance's arrival, I packed as many belongings as I could and took them back here."

" _Where are you?"_

"I'm in the Final Egg in the Mystic Ruins. Rough and Tumble are finishing with the rest of your stuff."

" _Bah! The Resistance could have least clean up everything when they finished trashing it! What a bunch of jerks! Oh, well. At least you managed to restore the Final Egg. I haven't been inside that base in years. Who could ever forget the Egg Viper and my infamous catchphrase? Ah, the memories. Anyways, did you by any chance find G-merl?"_

Starline nodded and opened up a wormhole with his topaz; he showed Dr. Eggman an image of G-merl and Cream playing around with the kids of Windmill Village. "As a matter of fact, I did. Surprisingly, he wasn't so hard to track down. He's in a place called Windmill Village. Rough and Tumble enslaved some of their people so they could have them build a castle."

"And we would have gotten away with it too if it weren't for those furry rodents!" Rough snarled.

"You talkin' about us?" Tumble asked.

"No! I meant Sanic and his band of idiots!"

"Oh, my bad."

" _Excellent work, Starline!"_ Dr. Eggman smiled. _"You saved my belongings, well some of them, and found G-merl. I'm happy I kept you around."_

"Shall I go after him, sir?" Starline grinned.

" _Negative. I have a different plan."_

"We could use another shot!" Rough said. He and Tumble struck a pose.

" _No!"_ Dr. Eggman replied. _"Starline… send in Metal Sonic. I hear he's been_ _ **begging**_ _for a rematch. Mwa-hahahahahahahahahahahahaha!_ "

 _ **END OF CHAPTER 19**_

* * *

 _Metal Sonic's been out of the game for a while, so now it's time for him to make his grand return. What can he do to defeat Sonic unlike last time? And how will Sonic's team react to finding out Knuckles and the Resistance have to break the law to save Big? A lot of questions are rising and I am positive that all of them will be answered very soon. Sonic and the others will finally reunite with G-merl and Cream once Chapter 20 comes into play. Meanwhile, Shadow and Rouge are going to try and change Omega's priorities. Knuckles and the Chaotix... well, they're going to discover something else once Chapter 21 comes along. Stay tuned fo more in..._

 _"Chapter 20: Finding G-merl: Part 1."_

* * *

 ** _POST-A/N:_**

 _For those of you wondering how long this story will be. I do not have an exact number of chapters for this story, however, I do plan to have huge character arcs for the Resistance, Big, G-merl, Cream, Shade, and Synergy. How will I do that all at once? Well, you'll see for yourself._

 _Whisper's temper got the best of her this chapter. This will end up leading to the reason why she attacked Shadow in "Chapter 8: A Wolf in the Shadows." and why she hates Eggman in the first place._

 _E-123 Omega makes his official debut in this chapter. Since he was on one of the covers of the IDW Sonic the Hedgehog Comic Book Series, I've been wanting to include him for a while._

 _I changed the cover art for this story because I wanted to get a good picture of Sonic and G-merl standing next to each other along with Cream. It's mainly because all three of them are major characters in the story. Also, that cover art looks so cool! In case anyone is curious, it's one of the covers for IDW Sonic the Hedgehog #18._

 _As always, don't forget to favorite, follow, and review if you want to see more! I'm The Sensational SpiderDom321 with Infinite's Ruby and we'll see you next time!_

 _~SD321 (SpiderDom321)_


	20. Finding G-merl Pt 1

_**A/N:** Guys, I can't believe I'm saying this, but we have reached a milestone in Awakened. We have reached **20 chapters!** I have to say, I didn't expect this story to get this far because originally, this was going to be a mini-series with only 20 chapters. But since we have a lot more ground to cover, I am happy to say that we have reached 20 chapters and beyond! I want to thank TGN, Infinite's Ruby, Alexandria Prime, SharpDragonKlaw, and many others for favoriting, following, and reviewing this story! Thank you all for getting me this far into the story!_

 ** _Suggested Music:_**

 ** _(1) Windy Valley #1 - Sonic Adventure OST_**

 ** _(2) Windmill Village #1 - Sonic Rush Adventure OST_**

 ** _(3) Boss Battle Theme #1 - Kingdom Hearts 3 OST_**

 ** _(4) Anti-Aqua Theme - Kingdom Hearts 3 OST_**

 _Without further ado, enjoy the show!_

* * *

 **Finding G-merl: Part 1**

 _ **(1)**_ After infiltrating Dr. Eggman's base in Metropolis, Knuckles has decided to send a fraction of the Resistance to locate G-merl. Luckily for them, Tails programmed G-merl with a built-in tracker that linked up to his Miles Electric in case something ever happened to him. The two-tailed fox was able to track down G-merl's coordinates in Windmill Village, Mystic Ruins. As soon as he got the signal, he and his team instantly ran down to the Mystic Ruins to look for him.

All of them were now running through the grass, taking in the jungle's surroundings on a beautiful sunny day.

"Whoooo hooooo! This is awesome!" Tangle the Lemur shouted. She was swinging off the trees as if she was a caveman. She wrapped her tail around the sturdiest branches of the trees, swinging off of them and cheering with happiness. She performed two front flips into the air and high-fived her own tail. She landed in a tree and continued swinging through the jungle.

"Look out, bushes!" Sonic grinned. He was grinding on top of a large root that extended across a murky river. He jumped from one root to another, crouching down to get a boost of speed. Amy Rose followed close behind him. "Sonic the Hedgehog, coming through!"

"Make way for Amy Rose!" the pink hedgehog jumped over Sonic and landed on the root in front of him. She turned around and shot him a playful wink.

"Am I smelling a race, Amy?" Sonic quipped.

"No," Amy replied with a chuckle. She then took a big whiff of fresh air. "I smell the fact that you're gonna lose!"

"Okay, bring it on!" Sonic smiled. He jumped over Amy and started running across the dirt. Amy Rose landed on the ground as well and began running after Sonic. Sadly, she was too slow to catch up with his supersonic speed. She was fast, but she wasn't as fast as him.

To solve her problem, Tangle swooped down and scooped her up with her tail. Amy looked up and smiled at the sight of Tangle helping her out.

"Need a hand?" Tangle asked with a wink.

"Sure!" Amy replied. She grabbed onto the lemur's hands and felt the air punch her in the face. She figured Tangle must have a good experience with nature, because she was taking advantage of her surroundings.

Tangle grinded on top of the roots and swung from the trees. Her tail was wrapped around Amy's chest.

Sonic looked up and saw that Tangle and Amy were above them. They weren't ahead of him, but they were close to reaching the goal.

"Hey, that's cheating!" Sonic called, cupping his hands together.

"We're not cheating!" Amy replied. "We're using the power of teamwork!"

"Hey, that's my line!" Sonic replied.

Behind them, Silver and Whisper were flying side by side. The latter was using her Hover Wispon to traverse through the swamps. The biscotti-colored wolf hasn't said a word since she destroyed the HQ in Metropolis. The white hedgehog looked at her with a nervous glance.

He couldn't stand to see the Guardian Angel of the Resistance like this. He knew she had a grudge against Eggman, but he didn't think it was this bad. As he looked at her, Tails flew over both of them and caught up to Sonic, Amy, and Tangle.

"Hey," Silver said to Whisper. "Can we talk for a moment?"

Whisper looked at Silver and put on her mask, refusing to show him her face.

She ignored him and flew ahead.

"What did Eggman do to you?" Silver said to himself. "Gosh, I hope I didn't say that out loud."

Tails whipped out his Miles Electric and looked down at the coordinates. The two of them were getting close to Windmill Village. "We're almost there, guys. G-merl's signal's getting stronger."

"Okay, guys and gals," Sonic smirked. "This could be dangerous, so let's put on our mean faces."

Tangle playfully growled once Sonic said, _"mean faces."_

Amy smiled at Sonic's joke until she looked up at Tails. The two-tailed fox looked down at Sonic and let out a low sigh: he wanted to express what he told Amy much earlier today. The pink hedgehog sighed and told Tangle to let her go. Tangle obeyed and released Amy. The pink hedgehog ran alongside Sonic.

"Sonic," she said. "When this is over, I think you should talk to Tails. He's been desperate to speak with you for a long time."

"Why?" Sonic asked. "Is something wrong with him?"

"He… he's been wanting to speak with you for a while now. When you get the chance, please hear him out." Amy replied. "I think you'll want to listen to him."

"Um, okay," Sonic said with a nervous glance. He looked up at Tails and sighed. _What's wrong with my little bro?_

Sonic's team continued running through the swamp, hoping to find their black and yellow friend. _**(1s)**_

* * *

 _ **(2)**_ Speaking of the Gizoid, he was in the middle of playing around with Shade's cub scouts and Cream the Rabbit. He was dressed as an enemy pirate and was standing on top of a small pirate ship made out of wood. Wearing a small eye-patch and a red jacket, he lifted Cream in the air and made an evil cackle.

"Mwa-hahahaha!" he playfully laughed. "I will take away your princess and steal all your gold!"

"Oh, no!" Cream smiled and laughed. "Somebody please, save me!"

The kids in Shade's troop, who were dressed like various pirates, were tied to a pole by a piece of rope. They all gasped at the sight of G-merl's pirate costume.

"Oh, no!" a male fox shouted and giggled. "We have to do something!"

"But we're stuck here!" said a female lynx. "Who's gonna save us?"

Suddenly, a mysterious figure came out of the blue.

Marine the Raccoon stood on top of the wooden ship. She drew her wooden sword and lowered it at G-merl. The Gizoid stepped back and watched as the orange raccoon jumped off the top and landed in front of him. She smiled and gave a heroic wink.

"Hold it right there, mate!" Marine said in a heroic tone. "You ain't takin' anyone's gold! This is my ship! I, Captain Marine, shall make you walk the plank!"

"Ha! You and what army?" G-merl playfully threatened her. Marine shot him a wink and smirk before she jumped over the pole and untied the kids with ease. All of the kids came out and surrounded G-merl. "Uh, oh,"

"Ahoy, mateys!" Marine said, raising her sword in the air. "Let us attack this scallywag with all of our might! Charge, mateys!"

The kids and Marine started poking G-merl with the wooden swords. It didn't really hurt the Gizoid since he was made of durable material. Cream jumped off G-merl's head and grabbed a small sword. She gently poked him in the chest.

"Sorry, Mr. G-merl," Cream apologized in a soft tone. "I hope this doesn't hurt you."

"Arrrr!" G-merl said to the other kids before turning to Cream. "It's okay, Kiddo. Don't apologize."

"Walk the plank!" Marine grinned.

"Never!" G-merl replied. He laughed.

Marine, Cream, and the kids then pushed G-merl onto the small plank. G-merl placed his hands on his chest, spun around, and started to lean off the plank.

"Oh, no!" G-merl said, pretending to be scared. "I'm going to fall!"

"Go get em', Cream!" Marine smiled, tapping Cream on the shoulder.

"Hi-ya!" Cream gently handed G-merl her wooden sword. The robot placed the sword in his elbow, as he jumped off the ship and landed on the grass. He then got down on his back, mimicking the sound of an explosion with his voice. Cream and Marine laughed and cheered with the kids, when suddenly, G-merl got back up and growled like a monster.

"Look out, pirates!" G-merl said, acting like a child. "It's the Loch Ness Monster!"

"Oh, my goodness!" Marine pointed. She dropped her sword and screamed. "Look out!"

"Quick!" Cream said. "Let's tickle him!"

Cream then jumped off the ship and landed in G-merl's arms. They both fell on the ground, as the six-year-old girl started tickling her brother-like friend. The other kids jumped down and joined in. A thousand fingers ran around G-merl's chest and back, causing the Gizoid to laugh.

As G-merl had fun entertaining everyone, Shade and Blaze watched as G-merl got back up and played with the kids. _**(2s)**_

Both female warriors smiled.

"Blaze," Shade said. "Thank you for doing this for me. Sometimes, it's a little hard to get these kids to listen sometimes. I always play my guitar to calm them down, but I don't have it with me today."

"You're welcome, Shade," Blaze replied with a soft smile. "You play music?"

"Sometimes," the orange echidna replied. She rubbed both her arms. "It helps me calm down and forget about the past… speaking of the past, I want to apologize for acting so cruel to you and the others earlier. It wasn't my intention to be so rude."

"You do not have to apologize, Shade," the lavender cat nodded. She folded her arms. "But if I may ask, how come you don't talk to Knuckles anymore?"

"It's… a reason I don't like to talk about," Shade replied with a low sigh. "I've done so many things in my past and some of those things have hurt Knuckles personally. I regret everything I've done to him when I've worked for Ix. But if you were to ask me if I miss him… I would say… yes, I do miss him. I miss everyone."

Blaze lowered her head and closed her eyes. She placed a hand on the echidna's shoulder, warming her with a gentle smile. "Shade, the best way to overcome this depression of yours is to talk to someone. And I don't mean me, Cream, or G-merl. I mean Knuckles… I really think you two should talk."

"I… I don't think it'll work."

"You won't know until you try."

Shade's lilac eyes looked up at the princess. She smiled and exhaled softly, as she looked back and saw G-merl and Cream playing with Marine and the kids. She placed her hands around her hips and chuckled when Cream tickled G-merl's chest.

But as she enjoyed her moment of peace, the wind suddenly roughly blew against her back. Her dreadlocks whisked again the wind, running a chill down her spine. She looked over her shoulder before she suddenly looked up. She saw that the skies were covered by a group of shadows. Her lilac eyes squinted, giving her a better look of what the objects were. She gasped once she discovered what they were. Taking a few steps back, she clenched her fists and gritted her teeth.

Blaze noticed Shade's behavior and turned in the direction she was facing. She gasped and got down into a battle position.

G-merl and Cream stopped playing with the kids and saw what Blaze and Shade were seeing.

"And here, I thought the forecast was sunny today," G-merl said.

The kids and Marine gasped, as they looked at the flying projectiles.

Just then, a few townsfolk were rudely greeted by an army of… _Gizoids! **(3)**_

Grey-colored Gizoids known as the E-121 Phi Series landed on the ground and cornered the townsfolk. A family of cows became startled and began to scream in terror. Another family of dogs and cats ran away from the Phis; they screamed and backed away from them.

Elder Scruffy noticed this and prepared to stand up to whoever was behind this, but suddenly, he found himself trapped by an army of Phis.

"Elder Scruffy!" Shade shouted. She gathered the kids and ran over to Scruffy's location. She fended off the robots with ease and ran off with her friends.

"Strewth!" Marine smiled. She drew her wooden sword and smirked. "Robot attack! Let's send these guys back to where they came from!"

"Yeah, you're going _back_ to the Sol Dimension," Blaze said. She created a dimensional portal with the Sol Emeralds. She grabbed Marine and tossed her through the portal. "Nothing personal, Marine, I don't want you to get hurt. Thanks for everything!"

"Wait a minute!" Marine shouted. "You brought me into this story for _one cameo!?_ What a rip!"

Once she made sure Marine was safe, Blaze closed the portal and ignited her hands. G-merl and Cream looked at each other, preparing for combat.

"Cream," G-merl said. "I'm gonna give you a choice. You can either help Blaze and I fight, or you could go inside with Shade and the others. I'm cool with either choice."

Cream turned to G-merl and nodded, "I want to help you fight."

"Okay, Kiddo. Get ready." G-merl said.

Without further delay, the three heroes jumped into battle.

As the E-121 Phis scared the civilians, G-merl tackled one of them and slammed it on the ground. Cream jumped into the air, curled into a ball, and jumped on one of the enemies. She decided to defeat them the old school way. Blaze tossed two fire tornadoes at the Gizoids, burning them with ease… or at least, that's what she expected to happen.

Since the Gizoids were made out of durable material, burning them alive was futile.

One of the Gizoids morphed its hands into Knuckles' fists and punched Blaze in the chest; the lavender princess skidded across the grass before she recovered, and roundhouse kicked the Gizoid's face. She blew another streak of fire in its face.

G-merl homing attacked three Gizoids before a surprise attack came from behind.

An E-121 Phi snuck up behind him and trapped him in an arm lock. Another Phi approached the Gizoid and started punching him three times. Before he went for the fourth blow, Cream slammed her foot on the robot's head. Cheese swooped underneath and attacked the robot behind G-merl.

"Are you okay, Mr. G-merl?" Cream asked with concern for her friend.

"I'm fine, Kiddo," G-merl nodded. He punched a Phi in the face and stomped it into the dirt. Cream and he looked over and saw more villagers being attacked by the drones. They rushed over and defended the civilians with ease. Blaze assisted the duo by piercing through her opponents with her own fiery homing attack.

G-merl raised his arms and shot an armada of missiles at the Gizoids.

The E-121 Phis suddenly curled into balls like Sonic would and charged at the six-year-old rabbit and her Chao. G-merl noticed this and landed in front of Cream.

He then spawned a red velvet force field around him and Cream. The rabbit screamed and got down on her knees as she watched the missiles impact the shield. But lucky for her, G-merl's strong will kept the shield up and running.

The missiles stopped firing, giving G-merl and Cream the chance to team attack the Gizoids. Cream thunder-shot her friend into the swarm of enemies, blowing them up.

Blaze slammed on the ground, causing a wave of fire to blind the Gizoids. She finished off the rest of them with an Axel Kick.

"There's too many of them!" Blaze said, as she stabbed one of the robots with a hand full of flames.

G-merl teleported behind one Gizoid as a way to avoid their attack; he destroyed it with a quick missile. "I have to agree. There's one too many for me! But we have to save the civilians!"

"Mr. G-merl's right," Cream nodded. She kicked a Gizoid's head, as Cheese karate-chopped another one. "Let's go rescue them!"

G-merl, Cream, and Blaze rushed down Windmill Village, where they discovered that civilians were evacuating their flaming houses. Multiple buildings were on fire and some of the villagers were still inside. G-merl scanned one of the houses and discovered a family of five hiding in the bathroom.

"There's a family inside! I'll be right back!" he said. He kicked open the window and rolled across the ground. As he got inside the house, he discovered that a blanket of smoke and smog covered the ceiling. The furniture was on fire and the flames were slowly spreading through the house. G-merl ran through the house, scanning the place for the trapped residents. He finally located them in the bathroom and kicked open the door.

A family of gophers screamed once they saw G-merl's appearance.

"Hi," G-merl said, awkwardly waving to them. He scanned the area for something to help them escape. He glanced at the bath tub. "Okay, get in the tub!"

* * *

Cream and Blaze were outside, protecting more people from the Gizoids' attack. They suddenly heard a house explode in the background. After they dealt with a small wave of enemies, they turned around and saw that the roof of a wooden house was completely gone. Cream gasped; that was the same house G-merl went into. She panicked and raced towards it.

"Cream, no!" Blaze shouted. She shot a wave of fire at five Phis.

As Cream raced towards the house, she stopped in her tracks because she watched G-merl pop out the window with the surviving family of gophers in the tub he was carrying. The youngest gopher poked her head out and cheered for G-merl. The rest of the family joined as well.

The robot sat them down and led them to a safe zone with everyone else. Cream walked up to G-merl and let out a breath of relief.

"That was close, Mr. G-merl," she said with worry. "Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine, Cream," G-merl replied. He brushed off the ashes on his shoulders. "I hate to say it, but we're not gonna defeat these suckers on our own."

"What can we do?" Cream asked.

"We'll hold out as much as we can," G-merl answered. "Come on, Blaze needs us!"

"Right!" Cream said. But before she and G-merl could help the lavender cat, an army of Phis surrounded them from all directions. G-merl and Cream readied themselves for a fight when suddenly, something came to their rescue.

A blue streak of light zoomed up and attacked one of the Gizoids. It knocked the mindless drone into the air and pierced through it in the speed of light. The blue light landed on the ground and swarmed around the other enemies, creating a blue tornado around all of them. G-merl and Cream stepped back from the tornado, as they watched the blue streak destroy the Gizoids.

Sonic the Hedgehog landed on the ground, shooting a wink at both G-merl and Cream.

"Mr. Sonic!" Cream smiled and waved. "We found you!"

"Finally!" G-merl exclaimed. "We've been looking all over for you!"

"Same here, you two," Sonic replied, kicking a Phi in the face. Tails, Amy, Tangle, Whisper, and Silver arrived on the scene. They all lunged into battle. Tangle wrapped her tail around a few robots before yanking them across the yard. Whisper shot them all down with her Wispon.

"Nice!" Tangle winked at Whisper, giving her a thumbs up. "We'd make a great team!"

" _Hmph!"_ Whisper replied. She ran past Tangle, going to defend the village.

"What did I say?" Tangle asked, running after the wolf.

"Ha, looks like you've made some friends as well," G-merl quipped, lightly punching Sonic's arm.

"The lemur's Tangle and the wolf's Whisper," Sonic replied with a wink. "They're cool. Anyways, I'd love to stay and chat with you, G-merl, but we gotta save the town!"

"Right!" G-merl said. "Race ya!"

"Why does everyone want to race me today!?" Sonic exclaimed and shrugged his shoulders. G-merl and Cream ran ahead to defend the village while Sonic followed close behind. Tails, Amy, and Silver followed Sonic and the others.

They ran across the village until they came across Blaze fending off more Gizoids on her own.

"Blaze!" Silver shouted. He rushed over and slashed three Phis with a psychic wave. Tails took out his Arm Cannon and blasted yellow orbs of energy at a dozen enemies. Amy's Pink Tornado cleared the area while Sonic homing attacked the ones beside him. G-merl and Cream homing attacked the robots as well.

"Silver!" Blaze smiled, cutting a Gizoid in half with a fire slash. "Good to see you. How have you been?"

"I've been well," Silver nodded. He lifted three Gizoids into the air before bashing them together. "I've stuck around for a bit to help clean up after the Phantom Ruby War."

"War?" Blaze asked. She kicked a Gizoid and finished it off with a Fire Tornado. "What do you mean by that?"

Sonic cut into the conversation. G-merl and Cream attacked Gizoids alongside Tails and Amy. "Long story short, Eggman and this guy named Infinite made these clones that kicked my butt, and I've been stuck on the Death Egg for six months!"

"And you didn't call me!?" Blaze shouted with concern. "I could have rescued you!"

"Eh, it's okay. Some cool Rookie came and saved me, so that was nice," Sonic shrugged his shoulders. He, Silver, and Blaze continued fighting. Behind them, G-merl picked up a Phi and pile-drove it into the ground. Cream kicked a Phi in the face. Cheese karate chopped three enemies. Tails shot his orbs of electricity. Amy swung her hammer, annihilating four robots.

Every member of the Resistance was at work.

"Been a while since we've seen these, right, Tails?" Sonic asked, kicking a Phi in the chest. The Phi punched Sonic and homing attacked him into a wall. Silver saved Sonic by trapping the robot in a psychic shield. G-merl dropped down and blew up the drone with his missiles. He took the skies and dropped missiles onto incoming enemies. "Last time I checked, these things were sent to capture Emerl, right?"

"Yeah!" Tails nodded in agreement. He smacked his tails against one of the robots. "The data we saw in Metropolis was right. Eggman is making an army of Gizoids again."

"But why send them here?" G-merl asked, as he slammed a robot on the ground.

Then, a dark, robotic, voice answered his question. "Because my master wants you, old friend!"

G-merl and Cream were spooked by the tone of that voice, as they looked over their shoulders to see who it was. Sonic and the other did the same and they gasped. A metallic blue figure landed on the ground. He was more armored then the other Gizoids and struck a resemblance to one of Sonic's deadliest foes.

"Metal Sonic!" Sonic pointed. _**(3s)**_

"Actually," the robotic hedgehog showed off his upgraded form. "It's _**Neo Metal Sonic**_." _**(4)**_

Neo Metal Sonic: an upgraded form of the metal hedgehog was standing in front of the Resistance. Every team member was spooked by the appearance of this version of Metal. He was more bulkier and more muscular than usual. Neo clenched his fists and chuckled at the sight of Tails shocked face. He turned his beading red eyes and looked at G-merl; he slowly approached him.

"You're coming back with me, G-merl," Neo said. "The Doctor has a lot to discuss with you."

"I betrayed Eggman long ago!" G-merl retorted. "Why does he want me back?"

"Silly little scrap," Neo chuckled. "Eggman doesn't want _you_ , he wants your _biodata_."

"Now, that makes more sense," G-merl said. He raised his missiles at Neo. "If you want me, Metal, come and get me!"

"Will do!" Neo sneered. He charged his jet boosters and charged for G-merl. Sonic suddenly jumped in front of G-merl and kicked Neo up his chin. The dark blue robot shot in the air and landed on his back. Sonic and G-merl fist-bumped each other.

"Come on, Neo, don't you want to play with me?" Sonic quipped.

"I'll kill you all!" Neo snarled.

A fight between Neo and the Resistance began.

* * *

Back in the Final Egg, Dr. Eggman was watching the fight between Neo and the Resistance escalate thanks to Dr. Starline's Warp Topaz. The two of them were sitting in comfy bean-bag chairs, eating nachos, Spanish rice, and guacamole. They watched as Neo picked up Tails and slammed him into both Amy and Sonic.

G-merl shot an armada of missiles at Neo, but Neo shot a bolt of lightning at the Gizoid to shoot him out of the sky. Cream ran over to G-merl to protect him from danger, which gave Silver and Blaze the chance to attack.

"This is amazing!" Dr. Eggman smiled with a mouth full of food. "It's like live television, but I don't have to pay for cable bills! Quite a spectacle! But I must ask, Starline, how did you get that Warp Topaz?"

"I am not sure to respond to that with a proper story," Starline replied. "I've studied this since the beginning of my scientist career; however, I somehow came across this thing during the Phantom Ruby War. The same could be said about the Chaos Emeralds. Speaking of which, do you know where those things are? I swear, I placed that suitcase on the table."

"Oh, I placed them into Neo's programming."

Starline shot out some Spanish rice from his mouth. He coughed. "What did you do!?"

"Relax, Starline, with the power of six Chaos Emeralds, Neo will bring G-merl back shortly. He has the biodata I need to activate the rest of my Gizoid army." Dr. Eggman replied. He took a sip of some Chao Cola.

"With all due respect, Dr. Eggman," Starline said. "But why would you use all of them!? Couldn't you have used just one!? This is overkill!"

"Relax, mi amigo," Dr. Eggman replied. "Oh, watch! This is getting good!"

* * *

Neo and Sonic engaged in a fist fight. The former blocked the latter's last punch and knocked him into a pile of barrels. Sonic rolled across the ground. G-merl, who was holding a steel pipe, came down and smacked Neo's face three times. Neo grabbed G-merl's weapon and shot the Gizoid's chest with a Chaos Blast.

The black and yellow Gizoid shot across the ground and landed on his back.

Cream, who was trying to figure out what to do, noticed that Cheese charged head-first towards Neo.

"Cheese, no!" she shouted.

Neo saw the Chao coming from a mile away and tried to attack him. But before he could kill the cute little creature, Tails wrapped the chain of his weapon around Neo's arm, trapping him. Amy came down and whacked Neo's face and then his head. She then sent him flying into the air with a Pink Tornado. As Neo flew across the sky, Tails flung him around before he slammed him on the ground.

Neo growled, as he slowly got back up on his feet. Sonic and Silver charged at him, but Neo shot two lightning bolts at both hedgehogs. Blaze jumped over them and punched him with a fist full of fire.

Neo grabbed Blaze's arm and wrapped his fingers around her neck.

"Oh, Blaze," Neo sneered. "You were always so predictable,"

Blaze grunted at the robot and shot him with a wave of fire. She was able to blind him to the point where Tails Thunder-Shot Amy into Neo's stomach. The metallic hedgehog grunted in pain.

"You were saying?" Blaze grinned.

"You think you've out classed me?" Neo snarled. His body suddenly glowed a bright yellow color. He was using the Chaos Emeralds as a boost of power. Sonic and the others stood back. "Come on, Sonic Heroes, _show me what you're made of!" **(4s)**_

* * *

Luminous Forest: One of the hotspots of the Phantom Ruby War. A lot has occurred in such a pretty location. From the Resistance fighting against the Eggman Empire's forces to a rematch between Sonic the Hedgehog and Infinite, so much has happened to the place overtime.

Found in the Luminous Forest were ancient ruins, such as roads, pillars, road gates, crumbling walls, temples, and still-burning torches. However, due to Eggman's actions, the majority of the ruins have been converted into casinos.

Numerous neon signs in different shapes and colors were added to the ruins, and ancient temples were converted into neon palaces, ruining their old value. Ancient pillars had similarly been turned into palm-shaped street lamps.

As Team Knuckles walked down the ancient road, Mighty and Ray were distracted by the various colors on the street lamp trees. Ray was amazed that so much could happen to an old place whereas Mighty thought all of the bright colors were overkill. He would have preferred if all these modern decorations were taken down since they would ruin the uniqueness of the forest. But he decided to shrug off those feelings since there were bigger problems ahead.

Meanwhile, Vector had something to say to his teammates.

"Hey, guys," he said. He let out a snicker at the end of his sentence. "I have a math equation for you."

"A math equation?" Espio asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, imagine this," Vector said. "Team Chaotix HQ is on the left and the gas station is on the right. It usually takes us five miles to get to the gas station and back, right?"

"Okay?" Mighty inquired.

Vector snickered before revealing the answer, "So, can you explain why it takes my dad fifteen years to get to the gas station and back?"

Charmy, Mighty, and Ray all laughed as soon as they got Vector's joke. Espio, who also understood the joke, just rolled his eyes. Knuckles wasn't paying attention because he was busy with something else.

Everyone stopped laughing after a bit before Ray said something. "I don't get it."

The red echidna was messing around with his Miles Electric; he was calling the same person he's been calling for the past few days. Espio looked over and saw that his close friend looked depressed. He poked Mighty in the shoulder and pointed to Knuckles; the armadillo saw the saddened expression on the echidna's face.

"I know I called you the past few times, but I really need you to listen," Knuckles sighed. "The Chaotix and I are in the middle of looking for Eggman and Synergy in the Mystic Jungle. Again, if you want to help us out, you're more than welcome. But also, I was hoping that once this is over… you and I could catch up. It's been a while since we've seen each other… I gotta go… I'll talk to you soon… Goodbye, Shade."

Knuckles hung up his call and placed his communicator away, as he let out a low sigh. As soon as he gently facepalmed himself, the Chaotix looked at each other, showing concern for their friend.

"Hey, Knux," Vector said. "Who were ya talkin' too?"

"Nobody," Knuckles replied.

"Knuckles, it's not nice to keep secrets from your team," Mighty said. "The best way to get rid of depression is by letting it out."

Knuckles hesitated to tell them, but after hearing Mighty's words, he finally let it out. "I can't remember if I told you about her, but I was talking to someone named Shade. She's an echidna like me."

" _WHAT!?_ " Mighty and Ray shouted.

"I remember you told me about her one time," Espio nodded. "She worked for the Marauders, yes?"

"Yep," Knuckles replied. "She helped us get into their dimension: the Twilight Cage. Once we came back to Mobius, she helped us defeat Eggman when he rebuilt Metropolis. After that, I offered her to come back to Angel Island with me."

"Because you _love_ her!" Charmy and Vector smirked. They made kissing sounds.

Knuckles looked back with a cold death stare.

"Heh heh, guess he prefers to be single," Charmy said nervously.

"Maybe so," Vector nodded in agreement.

"I invited her back with me because… I didn't want to be the last echidna anymore," Knuckles replied with a low tone.

"I thought you were okay with being the last echidna," Mighty said. "Isn't that part of who you are?"

"It was," Knuckles sighed. "But… she made me feel like I meant something."

Espio, Vector, and Charmy looked at each other. They all felt bad that Knuckles felt his way. Mighty and Ray felt just as bad. All of them silently whispered to one another before they all looked back at Knuckles.

"I think I can understand where you're coming from," Espio said. "Both of you are the last of your kind, so it's natural you would want to keep her safe, even though she's a capable fighter."

Charmy giggled. "I think it's more like Knuckles is in love with Shade!"

"You'll have to introduce us to her once the fight against Synergy is over," Mighty said, smiling.

"S-s-s-s-she sounds l-like a re-re-r-reliable person," Ray said with a slight smile.

"Heh, any friend of Knux's is a friend of ours," Vector added in; he wrapped his arm around Knuckles. "Besides, if you ever need love advice, you can come to me."

"Thanks, guys," Knuckles replied with a smile. "I'm glad to have you as my friends."

Team Chaotix smiled at the echidna, as they continued walking down the ancient road.

* * *

Meanwhile. Near Dr. Eggman's old laboratory in the Mystic Jungle.

E-123 Omega was walking around, scanning for any signs of Dr. Eggman, Synergy, and/or Big. So far, he has found nothing but the same stuff he's found before: grass, casinos, rocks, water, etc. He hasn't become frustrated (Which was a first for him) with finding his targets because he enjoys the thrill of the hunt. He figured that taking his time to find his targets would make the search more exciting.

He scanned another part of the base's exterior; he found no evidence that could lead him to his suspects.

"NO EVIDENCE FOUND," Omega said. He looked up at the starry night sky and scanned the stars. They were beautiful. Nearly the entire sky was illuminated by the stars' bright glow. But of course, the destructive robot had no time for sight-seeing. He needed to get back work. "MUST LOCATE TARGETS: BIG AND SYNERGY."

Suddenly, a voice came from above the trees, "That won't be necessary, big guy." It was Rouge the Bat.

Omega looked up to see his teammates: Rouge and Shadow, watching him from above.

"ROUGE, SHADOW," he said.

The remaining Team Dark members jumped down and approached him.

"Hey, Omega," Rouge said. "Long time no see,"

"NO TIME FOR TALK, ROUGE," Omega said. He turned around and kept moving ahead. "MUST APPREHEND WANTED CRIMINALS."

"Change of plans," Shadow said. He stepped in front of Omega. "We're only hired to apprehend _one_ suspect. And that's Synergy."

"NEGATIVE. BOTH THE CAT AND THE ANCIENT GIZOID ARE WANTED."

"No, Big is Synergy's hostage," Shadow shook his head. "He's an innocent man."

"THE PRESIDENT DECLARED NATIONAL EMERGENCY BECAUSE OF BOTH TERRORISTS. THE NEWS SHOWED BOTH INVOLVED IN THE ATTACK ON SOLEANNA."

"That's because Brenda only cares about getting high ratings. If you'd just listen to me- "

"NO TIME FOR FURTHER DELAY. I MUST FULFILL MY MISSION," Omega said. He walked past Shadow, who was infuriated that Omega wouldn't listen to him.

"Omega, get back here!" Shadow snarled. "Hey, I'm talking to you!"

Omega mocked Shadow by moving his fingers up and down, acting as if Shadow's nothing but a big chatter box. This made the Ultimate Life Form even more upset.

"Why you little- "

"Shadow, let me handle this," Rouge said. "Omega! Who do you trust more? The press or your teammates?"

This caused the giant robot to stop in his tracks. He stopped moving and thought about what Rouge just said.

The white bat and the ebony hedgehog stood there and shot a glance at each other. They looked back at Omega and watched him, as he stood as still as a statue.

It didn't him long to turn around and walk towards them.

"NEW MISSION: FIND PROJECT: SYNERGY." He said.

Unbeknownst to Team Dark, a little, purple, weasel by the name of Nack was hiding behind Dr. Eggman's base. He overheard the entire conversation and started rubbing his hands together. The purple bandit watched as the three G.U.N. agents left the area in search for the villain.

He tilted his brown hat and adjusted his belt.

"Ancient robot, eh?" he whispered. "That means he's worth a fortune."

 _ **END OF CHAPTER 20**_

* * *

 _Oh, boy. Gotta love good ol' Nack the Weasel and his get rich quick schemes. Wonder what kind of role he will play overtime. Metal Sonic *cough! Sorry, I mean, **Neo** Metal Sonic is back in town and he is more than determined to get G-merl back to his master. Let's just hope Sonic and his teammates can defeat him before it's too late. Poor Knuckles. It's clear he misses Shade, and it seems that the orange echidna shares mutual feelings. Here's to hoping the reunion between the two goes well. More plot twists are happening as our tale progresses. Will they change our characters for the better or for the worse?_

 _Find out more in "Chapter 21: Finding G-merl: Part 2"_

* * *

 ** _POST-A/N:_**

 _Since this story is loosely based off the IDW Comics, I have decided to have Neo Metal Sonic in this story. I was originally not going to have him here because he's been in so many other stories/rewrites of the IDW Comics, but after some thought, I have decided to place Neo into this chapter as well as others._

 _That scene with Knuckles adds a bite of development to the character. One of the things I noticed about Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, was that Knuckles and Shade didn't have much of a friendship as the writers tried to make them out to be. Yes, you are able to see more scenes between them depending on what team combination you choose, but sadly, I didn't see much of that in the game. Maybe I'll go back and play it to see if those scenes exist, but I wanted to show that Knuckles and Shade do miss each other. Just note: I **do not ship** Knuckles and Shade together. I just see them as close friends._

 _Nack the Weasel makes his debut here. Him, Bean, and Bark will show up sometime soon. I think you can infer what roles they will play based off Chapter 18's beginning. Pay close attention to that because it will come back to us soon._

 _Fun Little Fact: That joke Vector told is not only a joke that some kid in my Science Fiction class told everyone, but it is also a reference to the relationship Vector had with his father in the old Archie Sonic Comics. I did not read a lot of them, but I remember reading Sonic Universe: Knuckles Returns and seeing a scene where Vector tells Ray the lack of love his father have to him when he was younger._

 _As always, thanks to Infinite's Ruby for all that she's done. Don't forget to fav, follow, and review my work as well as her's, as she deserves it. I'm The Sensational SpiderDom321 with Infinite's Ruby and we'll see you next time!_

 _~SD321 (SpiderDom321)_


	21. Finding G-merl Pt 2

_**A/N:** Sorry for the delay in updates, everybody. I was updating my first crossover story as well as trying to piece together my other Sonic story and my Mario story. But I have to say this, I didn't expect this tale to get up to almost **100 reviews!**_ _We're almost there, guys! I want to thank everybody who has favorited, followed, and reviewed this story from the very start. Thank you all for getting me this far. It still boggles my mind that we're over 20 chapters!_

 ** _Suggested Music:_**

 ** _(1) Apotos Hub world - Day - Sonic Unleashed OST_**

 ** _(2) Deadpool - Where's My Guitar Solo? - Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions OST_**

 ** _(3) Just a Girl - No Doubt_**

 _Without Further ado, enjoy the show!_

* * *

 **Finding G-merl: Part 2**

 _ **(1)**_ Synergy and Big's escapade through the Mystic Jungle lead them to the continent of Apotos. Located in the same peninsula, Apotos was one of the areas that broke apart when Mobius was shattered by the likes of Dr. Eggman and Dark Gaia. It was also the place where Sonic the Hedgehog met one of his closest friends, who is now deceased, Chip aka Light Gaia.

Sonic and Chip came here years ago to see if anyone knew the latter because he had a case of amnesia when he first met the former. The two of them talked to the people for a bit until Chip was soon distracted by the sights of a Sundae Supreme: a large chocolate ice cream cone topped with whipped cream and chips. Not only was that the most delicious ice cream in town, but it was what gave Sonic the idea for Chip's name in the first place.

The cat and the Gizoid were walking around the outskirts of the city.

They've just woken up from a good slumber; they needed some sleep after the chaos that happened in the previous area. But there was one thing that Synergy found weird. How could his adventure in the Mystic Jungle take him to a different continent.

He remembered that a few hours ago, Big said that they would take a boat to a different continent in order to get to the Mystic Ruins. How could that be possible?

As he and the chubby feline walked across the fields of the great outdoors, they looked and saw a tall windmill blowing slowly in the wind. Behind it, a beautiful sunrise was highly noticeable. If the Gizoid had a mouth, he would smile at the gorgeous sunrise.

But of course, he was more focused on getting back to the place he was born.

"Hey, Big?" he began to inquiry. "I hate to question you since you're helping me get back to the Mystic Ruins, but how come we're in a different continent?"

"Hmm?" Big asked. He turned his head to face the robot.

"I did a scan of this area as we came up here on the boat," Synergy replied. "This is a different continent. Why are we here?"

"Like I said before, Synergy. I want you to see your kingdom," Big answered with a smile. "A good king must always know his area and his people."

"People?" Synergy rubbed his head, confused.

"Yep! That's right! As a way to know your surroundings, we're going to introduce you to some of the famous people I know!"

"Eh… I don't think that's such a good idea. In case you haven't noticed, I'm a killer robot who's loyal to the Great Fourth Civilization."

"But you can be a lot more than that."

"Pardon?"

"I think you have the potential to help others instead of being some evil ruler," Big replied with a gentle smile. "For example, you could teach people and Mobians how to fish, just like how I taught you. A king has to be able to teach and guide his people, and most importantly… protect them from harm."

Synergy lowered his head in shame when Big said that. "You know… Imperator Ix only taught his people how to prepare for war. He never taught us anything else like fishing… it was nice to learn a talent I've never been exposed to before."

Big placed his hand on Synergy's shoulder. "Well, there is a first for everything, buddy. You can learn so much more and use that to be a proper king."

Synergy nodded and spoke in a slight happy tone. "Right… thank you, Big."

The two allies kept walking down the fields, where they eventually reached the city. _**(1s)**_

* * *

 _ **(2)**_ "Come on, original ability stealer with an identity crisis!" G-merl snarled. He and Neo Metal Sonic were flying across the village, fighting with all of their might. Sonic, Amy, and Cream chased after them; they weren't far behind. "Is that all you got!?"

Neo slashed his large claws at G-merl's chest, but the latter used his teleportation powers to transport himself behind Neo. He wrapped Neo in an arm lock and smacked him into a chimney. A chunk of bricks fell against the floor, as Neo tumbled across the grass. G-merl landed in front of him, as he landed a roundhouse kick across his face.

Neo copied that ability and sent G-merl flying through the window of a burning house.

"Come quietly, G-merl," Neo slowly walked towards the Gizoid, as G-merl jumped through the window, landing back outside. "This is your last chance!"

Cream the Rabbit snuck up behind Neo and grabbed his black cape. She flew over his head and blinded his face with the cape.

"I think you need a time out, meanie!" Cream growled.

"Chao, chao!" Cheese said, as he slapped the back of Neo's head.

Sonic and Amy came out of nowhere and rammed themselves into Neo's back. They tackled him and started rolling across the grass. Neo grabbed both hedgehogs and slammed them, face first, against the dirt. Amy and Sonic moaned, as they slowly got up, but Neo was quick enough to smack them to the side with his fists.

Both hedgehogs landed on the ground.

G-merl and Cream circled the royal blue robot; the former shot missiles at super speed while the rabbit sent her Chao to attack Neo. Cream eventually kicked Neo's head while G-merl delivered a powerful punch. As soon as the two landed behind Neo, they punched him in the chest at the same time, sending the robot flying across the village.

The rabbit and the robot fish-bumped.

But Neo wasn't down yet; he came back and shot bolts of lightning at the duo.

G-merl grabbed Cream and flew away from the lightning sparks.

Sonic and Amy recovered from their sudden defeat, as Tails landed right beside them.

Tails took out his Miles Electric and ran a quick scan on Neo. "Oh, gosh! This is bad!"

"What's wrong, little buddy?" Sonic asked with a cough.

"It looks like Eggman got his hands on the remaining Chaos Emeralds because Neo's using all of that Chaos Energy to his advantage!" Tails replied.

"Well, it's a good thing he doesn't know I still have that red Chaos Emerald from earlier," Sonic quipped. "Imagine how screwed we would have been."

After Neo chucked Cream into G-merl's chest, he suddenly felt his scanners pick up signs of a Chaos Emerald. He turned around and gave Sonic a death stare. "Chaos Emerald: Detected."

Amy and Tails slowly turned their heads at Sonic; both had stern expressions on their faces.

Sonic awkwardly smiled and shrugged his shoulders.

Neo charged for them. Sonic, Tails, and Amy lunged into battle, ready for another round.

* * *

Tangle the Lemur and Whisper the Wolf were in the other side of the town, protecting the civilians from any harm.

"These are some of the funniest looking robots I've ever seen," Tangle commented. She wrapped her tail around an E-121 Phi's chest and chucked it into a row of Gizoids. "What's with the fin? Does it shoot a laser or something?"

Tangle punched three Gizoids, kicked four of them with her foot, and then used her tail to smack the ones that tried to sneak up behind her. As she fought the robots with her bushy weapon, she turned to the civilians and gave them a small wink. A group of kids laughed at Tangle's smile, as they thought it lightened the dire mood.

The ring-tailed lemur whipped her tail around and slammed it into a group of Gizoids.

Unfortunately, she wasn't quick enough to dodge a surprise ambush.

Two Gizoids morphed their hands into Tails' Arm Cannon and shot Tangle with an orb of electric energy; it caused her to shoot up in the air. One of the Gizoids copied Rouge's ability to fly as well as her downward spiral attack. The Gizoid attacked the lemur with that move and slammed her into the ground.

"Nice moves!" Tangle said, rubbing the dirt off her clothes. "But mine are better!"

She shot her tail at another Gizoid, but much to her surprise, it grabbed her tail.

"Uh, oh," the lemur gulped, as she was flipped over and smashed against the ground.

The army of Gizoids ganged up on the ring-tailed Freedom Fighter, but before she could be killed, the Silent Sniper aka Whisper shot all of them with her Burst Mode. She then transformed her Wispon into Cube Mode and smashed a Gizoid's head off it's body. She then kicked another robot behind her and shot a pink ball of spikes out of her weapon.

Tangle was amazed by Whisper's accuracy.

"Yo, home girl, that was amazing!" Tangle smiled. She walked up to Whisper and tapped her shoulder. "You gotta teach me to use one of those. Maybe we can be a team! I could be the Sparrow to your Fear Owl… oh, in case you don't know who that is, Fear-Owl and Sparrow are two of the most famous superheroes of all time! You can be Fear-Owl because you're so mysterious and I could be Sparrow because I'm very outgoing."

Whisper shook her head and continued fighting the enemies.

"What did I say?" Tangle asked. "Did I say something wrong? Hey, wait! Come back!"

Suddenly, Silver and Blaze entered the battle. They were sent by Amy to assist Whisper and Tangle in the fight. The ring-tailed lemur ran up to Silver and watched as he used psychic waves to decapitate his enemies.

She was about to say something to him, but something else caught her eye; Blaze the Cat.

The lavender princess formed two streaks of fire that highly resembled swords. She twirled them around as if she was a martial arts master, as she hacked and slashes not one, not two, but twenty Gizoids all at once. She jumped over one of them and stabbed it in the chest; behind her, she slashed and kicked as many enemies as she could.

"Wow! She is amazing!" Tangle exclaimed, astonished by Blaze's agility. "Who is that!? She's so cool!"

"That's my friend, Blaze," Silver replied, as he picked up a pack of Gizoids and slammed them into each other. He formed a boulder out of the Gizoids and rolled them into ten enemies. "Tangle, I'd love to introduce you to her, but we gotta focus!"

"She's… so… awesome," Tangle drooled over Blaze's combat. Silver tapped her on the shoulder, which drew her out of her daydream. "Huh? Oh, sorry!"

Tangle helped Silver evacuate pedestrians and destroy robots. _**(2s)**_

* * *

Back at Eggman's base in the Mystic Jungle, Knuckles and the Chaotix stumbled across the old headquarters. It was a lot dirtier than they last remembered. The building was covered in mud, wines, and overgrown roots. Knuckles rubbed the back of his head and looked up at the temple, having memories of fighting here during the Phantom Ruby War.

"Y-y-you ok-ok-okay, Knuckles?" Ray asked.

"I'm all right, Ray," Knuckles replied. "Old memories are popping up, that's all."

"Yeah, memories of tearing this place apart!" Vector smirked.

"You think Synergy could be hiding in there?" Espio asked.

"It could be possible," Mighty replied. "Wouldn't hurt to investigate."

Agreeing with the armadillo, the rest of the Chaotix joined him in opening the door and entering the base.

As soon as they got inside, they were surprised to see that the place wasn't as dark as they thought it would be. Much like every other Eggman base that was set up during the Phantom Ruby War, the entire place was littered with glowing blue tubes that were used to create the Phantom Ruby Prototypes.

Knuckles and the Chaotix explored the place for a bit. Their reflections were shown, as they walked past the translucent blue tubes. Some of them were shattered and glass fragments were on the floor whereas others were fully operational.

"How is this place still active?" Espio asked. He searched around and found more glass shards on the floor. "I thought we shut it down."

"That's what I thought," Vector said. He picked up the broken head of an Egg Pawn and chucked it over his shoulder. "It could mean Synergy is here."

Mighty tightened the brown straps around his gloves and fixed the sports tape that were on his shoes; he was preparing for a surprise ambush from Synergy. But instead, he heard the voice of Ray come from behind him.

"M-M-M-Mighty," said the nervous squirrel. His body was trembling and shaking.

"What's the matter, Ray?" Mighty asked with concern. He walked over to his little brother before he saw what he was pointing at. He gasped. "Guys, I found him!"

In front of Mighty and Ray was a robot that was stuck inside one of the tubes. The former punched through the tube, causing some glass fragments to splatter across the ground. He grabbed the drone by his shoulders and chucked him against the wall. The robot laid there, motionless.

Knuckles and the Chaotix ran over to him and looked at the robot that sat against the wall.

"Come near my brother again and you'll see happens, you worthless piece of scrap!" Mighty snarled at the robot. Ray cowered behind the armadillo's legs.

The robot didn't respond nor did he move.

"Not gonna say anything, Synergy?" Charmy giggled, sticking his tongue at the robot. "What's the matter, you chicken?"

"Hold on a second, guys," Knuckles said. He kneeled down and took a good look at the Gizoid. It was a mustard-yellow, orange, olive-brown, and beige color scheme. Knuckles gasped because he knew who this was. "No… it can't be…"

* * *

"Everyone, stay back! I'll keep you all safe!"

Shade hadn't asked for much. Just a pleasant day or two camping with her scout troop before heading back home to play her guitar. Just whatever she felt like doing. And that was how she liked it.

What she hadn't counted on was someone bringing an army of Gizoids to the village.

She took Elder Scruffy and her scouts back to her house where she hoped they'd be safe, but because the Gizoids were trying to break through the door she was barricading with her back. But even her weight couldn't stop the number of Gizoids that were outside.

Elder Scruffy stood in the kitchen with the children in cub scouts. He sat in front of them with his cane held high; he was prepared to fight back; despite the fact he had no combat experience.

Shade looked up at the children, determined to keep them safe, but it was hard for her to keep her equanimity because two Gizoids shattered the window's glass and entered the house.

"No!" she shouted. She kicked her coffee table at one of the Gizoids, but it did no damage. She gasped, as she felt herself trip because the force of the robots knocking on the door caused her to fall. But she quickly recovered and pressed her back against the door. Looking over and seeing the mindless drones storm towards her friends, Shade snarled and gasped with worry.

A drop of sweat poured down her head; she didn't know what to do.

She didn't want to fight these robots, as she feared it would bring back painful memories of the Nocturnus Clan's takeover of Mobius. But her friends were in danger and her other friends were outside fighting.

She exhaled and decided it was time to fight. _**(3)**_

Shade somersaulted forward and tripped the two Gizoids with her feet, knocking them both on the ground. The door slammed open and six Gizoids entered the house.

The orange echidna looked up and reached into the pockets of her shorts. She whipped out two bracelets and slapped them together, unleashing two purple blades called Leech Blades. She snarled and charged at the Gizoids, stabbing them with every ounce of her strength.

After she roundhouse kicked one Gizoid in the face, another robot grabbed her and tossed her into the couch. Shade fell on the soft seat and grabbed the pillow, tossing it into a robot's face. She lunged forward and sliced the robot in half; right before slashing all the other robots.

The kids watched and cheered from the kitchen; Elder Scruffy smiled and nodded his head.

Shade slashed more Gizoids until she kicked another one through her door; it landed outside.

She jumped through the window, rolled across the ground, and decapitated the robot.

As she looked around the village, she saw more Gizoids either running towards her or the civilians. She cracked her fingers and continued fighting.

She jumped up into the air, curled into a ball, and homed in on unsuspecting enemies.

* * *

Sonic jumped back after Neo shot a bolt of lightning. He missed. Neo boosted towards his blue rival, but Sonic grabbed Neo's arms and flipped him over with his feet. The robotic hedgehog fell right on top of a pair of barrels, he got his head stuck in one of them.

Tails and Amy regrouped with him and prepared to fight Neo, but the three of them heard the sound of a female grunting.

They turned to the right and were amazed to see Shade the Echidna fighting against an army of Gizoids and looking cool while doing it. They haven't seen her since she helped them save Mobius from her people, so they were both surprised to see her alive and well.

"Is that… Shade?" Tails inquired.

"No way!" Amy exclaimed. "What's she doing here?"

"Whatever the reason is, it's good to see her again!" Sonic smirked. "Shade!"

The female echidna rolled forward, tripped a Gizoid on its back, and stabbed its chest with her Leech Blade. She heard Sonic's call and replied back, "Look out!"

In a split second, Neo rose from the barrel and slashed his claws at the three Freedom Fighters; however G-merl stepped in and blocked Neo's attack with his shield before the heroes were turned into kabobs. Sonic wiped his head with relief, as he watched Silver and Blaze approach Neo from behind. Tangle and Whisper suddenly came out of the blue and punched Neo in the back, sending him flying across the town.

Neo suddenly turned around and dive bombed the heroes; everyone leaped out of the way. A puff of smoke ascended from the ground due to Neo crashing into the dirt.

Cream and Cheese flew down and joined G-merl in combat.

Neo generated the power of the Chaos Emeralds and shot an armada of yellow energy blasts at the heroes.

"Look out!" Amy shouted. Silver saved Amy by lifting her up with a psychic wave. Blaze protected Sonic and Cream with a fiery shield and G-merl saved Tails by pushing him out of the way. Tangle screamed and curled her tail around her body, thinking she'd be a goner. But Whisper was nice enough to save her by tackling her away from the blast.

Shade slashed more Gizoids and ran towards her friends. Catching Neo off guard, she slashed at his quills and swiped at his chest. She kicked him in the chest, punched him two times, and hook punched him in the face. Neo lashed at Shade, but due to her years of training, Shade blocked the punch and jabbed Neo in his chest.

Neo shot a bolt of lightning at her, but she dodged it by flipping over it. When she landed on the ground, she uppercutted Neo up his chin.

* * *

Back at the Final Egg, Dr. Eggman spit out his food because he was shocked to see that his prized creation was losing to someone he knew from the past. Dr. Starline was shocked too because he discovered someone whose race he studied for a long time was seen through the wormhole.

" _I KNOW HER!_ " Dr. Eggman shouted. More food crumbs came out of his mouth. " _WHAT'S SHE DOING HERE!?_ "

"That's Shade of the Great Fourth Civilization!" Dr. Starline pointed. "I didn't know she was still on this planet. I thought she went back to the Twilight Cage!"

"Neo better not lose to her!" Dr. Eggman snarled, slamming his hand on the table.

* * *

"Hold still, you devil!" Neo growled. Shade ducked under his punch and jabbed him in the face. She twirled around and prepare to deliver the final blow, but Neo deflected her attack and wrapped his fingers around her neck. As she gasped for air, Neo laughed at her efforts to fight. "I remember you. You and I have fought before, you've survived then, but that won't happen _now!_ "

"Let her go, Metal!" G-merl snarled. He charged from behind with a steel pipe in his hands. She slammed the weapon against Neo's head. He smacked the robot twice before shooting him with a missile. Shade was set free and she landed on the grass.

The rest of the Resistance gathered around her. Sonic offered her his hand.

"Long time no see, Shade," Sonic smiled.

Shade gasped at the sight of Sonic, Amy, and Tails at first. Guilt suddenly ran through her body. But she was kind enough to grab his hand. He helped her up on her feet.

"You shouldn't have come here," Shade said. "I'm a danger to you all."

"Looks like _you're_ not the danger around here," Sonic quipped. Amy gave the echidna a small hug.

"Shade, it's so good to see you!" the pink hedgehog smiled. "How have you been?"

"I've… I've been fine, but you shouldn't be here. Especially with me," Shade replied.

"What are you talking about?" Tails asked.

"I hate to break up the reunion, but we got bigger problems!" G-merl interrupted the conversation and pointed at the robot hedgehog. Neo was getting up and using more of the Chaos Emeralds' energy. G-merl stepped in front of the crowd and pointed a missile at Neo's chest. "Hey, Neo! I'm the one you want, leave the others out of this!"

"As long as I could get to you, I don't care how many people die!" Neo snarled.

"Really?" G-merl grunted. He teleported behind Neo and wrapped his arms around him, trapping him. "Then let's fight somewhere else, shall we?"

"G-merl?" Cream gasped. She ran towards him and Neo. "No, wait!"

G-merl snarled. "Chaos Control!"

A white light covered both him and the robot hedgehog. The light flashed which blinded Cream and the others. _**(3s)**_

The light disappeared… and so did G-merl and Neo; both of them were completely gone.

"G… G-merl?" Cream gasped. Her eyes were starting to tear up. She got down on her knees and wiped her eyes. "G-merl?"

Amy ran forward and comforted the rabbit by giving her a warm hug. "Cream, it's okay. G-merl's not gone. He just… Tails, where did G-merl go?"

"According to my Miles Electric," Tails said. "It looks like he teleported to a different continent."

"Which one?" Blaze asked.

"Apotos," Tails replied. "We should head there now before anything happens to him."

"Wait!" Cream said. "I want to come with you!"

"You sure about that, Cream?" Silver asked. "This could be dangerous,"

"I don't care how dangerous it is," Cream said, wiping her eyes. "I don't want anything to happen to my brother."

* * *

In the city of Apotos, Synergy and Big were talking to an Ice Cream Vendor who was offering a 50% off sale on the Sundae Supreme. The chubby cat was gawking over the amounts of chocolate and vanilla placed onto the desert. He looked it at from the left to the right, happy to be in the same area as that ice cream. Synergy watched as the cat got excited over such food. To which he chuckled.

The Ice Cream Vendor put the last two ingredients on top of the ice cream, struggling to contain his laughter. He found it amusing when a customer drooled over his culinary art.

"Looks good, don't it?" the man said. He adjusted his hat and straightened his mustache.

"If I had the ability to eat," Synergy joked. "You would never see that thing again."

"That there Chocolate Chipped Cream Sundae Supreme is the pride of the city," the vendor smiled again. Synergy approached the ice cream stand, watching Big gush over the prized possession of the city. "The whole world could come tumbling down, but they'll still line up for a taste! How would you boys like to try a piece?"

"Like I said," Synergy chuckled. "I'd love to, but I'm afraid I can't. I'm on an oil only diet."

"R-really?"

"No, I'm kidding. I can't eat anything."

"I want it! I want it! I want it!" Big chanted like a child. "Can I have it, please? Just one bite!"

"Haha," said the Ice Cream Vendor. "Sure you can! Enjoy it, kiddo! If you don't love it, you get your money back!"

"Oh, I looooooove it!" Big smiled. He took out his wallet, but before he could pay, he looked down at Synergy. He felt bad the Gizoid couldn't enjoy such a wonderous meal. "Would you like me to buy you one, Synergy?"

"What? I can't," Synergy replied. "Robots can't eat food, remember?"

"But I don't want to enjoy this ice cream without you," Big said with a frown on his face. "I was hoping we could share."

"I'd love to share with you, but I can't-"

 _ **FLASH!**_

Out of nowhere, a flash of light appeared in the middle of the city. Synergy and Big jumped at the sight of it. They were prepared to run from whatever it was, when suddenly, they saw G-merl and Neo Metal Sonic.

Synergy was flabbergasted to see another Gizoid present. " _HUH!?_ "

G-merl punched Neo in the face before he looked up. His blue eyes widened. " _NO!_ "

Both Gizoids looked at each other for a few seconds. They couldn't believe that they have met each other for the first time in forever. Synergy found it difficult to believe that there was another Gizoid like him on Mobius, much less one who survived whatever the Nocturnus Clan went through. G-merl, on the other hand, was shocked and scared. He kept seeing Synergy in his flashbacks and was told by Shade that he was a diabolical villain, but then again, he was standing beside Big the Cat, so he couldn't rush to violence so easily.

All they did… was stare at each other.

G-merl finally maintained his composure and said this, "It's been a long time, Project: Synergy."

"Another Gizoid?" Synergy asked. "Have we met before?"

"We shook hands the day you were created. Nestor the Wise opposed the war between Ix and Chief Pachacamac, but the former ignored him. Oh, and Procurator Shade told you to think before you act."

Synergy looked to the side before he realized who he was talking to. "No way… _**Emerl?**_ "

 _ **END OF CHAPTER 21**_

* * *

 _WHAAAAAAAAAAAAA!? G-merl and Synergy meet each other for the first time in years!? Holy crap! How is **this** gonna go down!? Yes, folks. After 21 chapters, G-merl and Synergy finally come face to face at long last. And as of this point, G-merl and Synergy's part of the story, which will eventually become the rest of the story will be Sonic Unleashed inspired. Basically, everyone's going to teach Synergy the differences between right and wrong. I know it may sound stupid, but trust me, I am positive this'll work. But first things first, Knuckles and the Chaotix have discovered something in the Mystic Jungle. What did they find? Find out as they learn something new about Eggman's plan in..._

 _"Chapter 22: You Learn Something New Every Day."_

* * *

 ** _POST-A/N:_**

 _As said before, Awakened will take a Sonic Unleashes style route in the future, where we will finally see the scene where Tails talks to Sonic, more flashbacks with G-merl and Synergy, more G-merl and Cream scenes, and other scenes. The Hooligans will show up too, I haven't forgotten about them. I wanted to do this because I don't want Synergy to be some two-dimensional character with only one motivation; destroy everything. He's going to learn what its like to have a family._

 _Shade may have gotten a taste of the action today, but that doesn't mean she's coming back right away... dear, god. Did I just rhyme?_

 _As always, thank you for taking the time to read this. Let me know what you liked and what needs to be improved. I'm The Sensational SpiderDom321 and I'll see you all next time!_

 _~SD321 (SpiderDom321)_


	22. You Learn Something New Every Day

_**A/N:** Hello, everyone! First off, I just wanted to apologize for taking so long to update this story. I got Writer's Block for this story at first, as I couldn't figure out how to set up the rest of the story. I have the final battle and ending planned out, but I couldn't figure out what to do through the remainder of the second act. Well, thanks to my co-writer, Infinite's Ruby, I was able to overcome my Writer's Block and get right back to this story. Special thanks to her and everyone else for getting this story up to **17 favorites, 16 followers,** and **over 100 reviews!** We've reached a milestone, everyone! Thank you all for being here since Chapter 1._

 ** _Suggested Music:_**

 ** _(1) Theme of the Resistance (Title Screen) - Sonic Forces OST_**

 ** _(2) Supersonic Rocketship - The Kinks (Yeah, that song from Avengers: Endgame ;))_**

 ** _(3) Egg Gate - Sonic Forces OST_**

 ** _(4) The Fake - Sonic Forces OST_**

 _Without further ado, enjoy the show!_

* * *

 **You Learn Something New Every Day**

"What is it, Knuckles?" Espio asked. He and the Chaotix were looking at the robot that Mighty chucked against the wall a few seconds ago.

Knuckles seemed to be the only one who knew what it was, but he was too surprised to tell anyone what it was. The robot was a mustard-yellow, orange, olive-brown, and beige color scheme. Knuckles lowered his head. He and the Chaotix had discovered the old body of a close friend.

"Say, this thing looks familiar. Eh, Knux?" Vector commented.

Knuckles stood up on his feet. "That's because I knew him once."

"What do you mean?" Mighty inquired.

"This is G-merl's original body, Emerl," Knuckles replied.

The Chaotix gasped.

"How is that possible?" Espio stroked his chin. "I thought you destroyed him?"

"Wait, w-what's g-going o-o-on?" Ray asked. "W-who is he?"

Knuckles stood up, placing the Gizoid down. "Some time ago, Sonic found this robot on the beach after Eggman discarded it. He named him Emerl and taught him about living in peace and harmony. Emerl made some friends and some enemies, but overall… he was a close friend of ours… Sadly, Dr. Eggman did something to unlock his destructive programming, causing him to go on a rampage. Sonic alone, had to stop him… which caused his demise."

Everyone was silent.

"But this doesn't make sense," Knuckles said. "Emerl's original body was destroyed. G-merl was built from his biodata. How is this here?"

Espio approached the robot and inspected its body. He found something on the arm. "Hey, take a look at this."

Everyone leaned down and looked at what Espio pointed at.

"Look at this date," Espio said. He read the date to them. "This android was made during the Phantom Ruby War, meaning this isn't the original."

"During the war, you say?" Vector raised an eyebrow. "Why do you think Eggman made this?"

"Perhaps he was trying to scare you guys," Mighty suggested. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't that Infinite guy trap some of you in Virtual Reality during Operation: Big Wave?"

"Yeah, we saw some crazy stuff in there," Vector nodded.

"That whole segment was meant to frighten everyone in Metropolis. Maybe rebuilding your old friend was Eggman's way of doing that," the armadillo continued. "Seeing him evil again would probably throw you off guard."

"That would make sense," Espio nodded. "But why didn't Eggman use him when he had the chance? According to this date, this clone was made two weeks before we found out Sonic was alive."

"Something smells like a conspiracy," Charmy said, stroking his chin. "Or maybe that's just Vector."

"Shut up, Charmy!" Vector snarled.

"What should we do, Commander?" Espio asked.

"Let's take this back to Resistance HQ," Knuckles suggested. He reached down and picked the Gizoid up. Placing him on his shoulder, he began walking towards the door. "Maybe some of our rookies can take a look at this."

Team Chaotix followed their commander, wondering why Emerl wasn't fully functional during the Phantom Ruby War. _**(1)**_

* * *

Gadget the Wolf, Fuchsia the Cat, and Corvin the Bird: three rookies that fought alongside the Resistance during the six-month war. They quickly joined the team as soon as Knuckles and Amy announced Sonic's defeat and Eggman's takeover of the world. The three of them were lucky to work alongside Sonic and another rookie in order to save the world from Eggman's Empire.

After the War, they decided to help with the fallout while their other friends reunite with their families.

As the Resistance got back together to save Big from Synergy, the three of them have been left in charge of cleaning up areas that were annihilated during the six-month war. But they didn't expect their own commander to call them up so soon, saying that he and the Chaotix returned with something shocking.

They stopped what they were doing and waited for their teammates to return.

Team Knuckles came back and watched as Fuchsia used her purple visor to scan Emerl's data. The Gizoid was fully dysfunctional; he didn't look like he was getting up anytime soon. Gadget and Corvin watched as their friend scanned the robot, hoping she would get some information.

Knuckles and the Chaotix hoped for the same.

"Got anything, Fuchsia?" Knuckles asked.

"This guy was definitely made during the war, but it's clear he hasn't had the best care," the magenta cat replied. "Where did you find him again?"

"At Eggman's base in the Mystic Jungle," Mighty replied. "He was just sitting there in a test tube."

Gadget stroked his peach-colored chin. "That's odd. I don't know much about Gizoids, but I hear they're incredibly powerful. I know Eggman can act dumb, despite the fact he has an IQ of 300. But I never thought he'd be stupid enough to abandon such a destructive superweapon."

"This thing is cool," Corvin commented, poking Emerl's fin. "What's with the shark fin? Does he use it to scare surfers? Ha-ha!"

Fuchsia smacked Corvin's hand off the fin; the bird moaned and shook his hand in pain.

"Is this thing active at all?" Espio asked.

"Doesn't look like it," Gadget replied. He opened up Emerl's back. "His components show that he's connected to some kind of remote-controlled program. Did you guys find more of these or was he the only one?"

"He was the only one in there," Knuckles replied.

"That's strange," Gadget said.

"Like, should we destroy it or something?" Corvin asked. "He _is_ just another Eggman bot."

"No," Knuckles said. "Don't destroy it. I want to know more about it."

"Maybe we can trace the remote-control signal back to its source," Fuchsia suggested. She opened up Emerl's back and messed with his controls with a wrench and a screwdriver. "It may take Gadget and I some time though,"

"And Corvin too!" said the teal bird. "I'm not a forgettable as Mr. Thorndyke."

Knuckles, the Chaotix, Gadget, and Fuchsia glanced at the bird with curious faces. "Who?" they said at the same time.

"Exactly!" Corvin said.

Suddenly, Knuckles' ringtone went off. Reaching into Hammerspace, he pulled out his Miles Electric and saw that Tails was calling him. Corvin smirked when he heard Knuckles' ringtone.

"Nice ringtone," the bird snickered.

"Hey, it's a catchy song," Knuckles said. "And it's true, unlike Sonic, I don't chuckle." He answered the call and saw Tails' face pop up on screen. "Hey, Tails."

" _Knuckles, I've got some good news and some bad news,"_ Tails said with a nervous sigh.

"What's the good news?"

" _The others and I found G-merl."_

"You did!? Nice! Where is he? Is he okay?"

" _Well, that's the bad news. Neo Metal Sonic attacked the village he was in, and G-merl used Chaos Control to get him away from the people. Pretty stubborn move, but I do admire him for looking out for the people. Cream's convinced he's gone, but I managed to track him down."_

"Where is he?"

" _He's in Apotos."_

"All right, the Chaotix and I can get there as soon as possible… sorry to get off topic, but have Rouge and Shadow contacted you at all?"

" _Nope. Haven't heard a word."_

"Of course… The Chaotix and I will meet you there ASAP. We need to tell you something."

" _Rendezvous at Apotos. Got it. We'll see you there."_

"See you there. Be careful."

" _Likewise."_

Knuckles hung up the call and nodded to the Chaotix, who were listening to the conversation.

"Come on, guys, we need to find G-merl," he said.

"What about this guy?" Vector pointed at Emerl's body.

"We'll worry about that later," Knuckles said. "Gadget, Fuchsia, Corvin. You guys stay here and figure out more about this clone. The Chaotix and I are going on a road trip."

"Road trip!?" Ray and Charmy squealed with excitement, as they both looked at each other. "Can we sing road songs?"

Vector facepalmed himself.

"Whatever," Knuckles said. "Let's get moving!"

The Resistance left the meeting room, leaving the rookies to deal with Emerl.

Corvin placed his elbows on the table and awkwardly exhaled. "So… you guys wanna trade this into a pawn shop?"

Gadget and Fuchsia glared at the bird.

"I'm kidding," Corvin chuckled. "But it wouldn't hurt to make a little dough,"

The red wolf and the cat rolled their eyes. _**(1s)**_

* * *

In Windmill Village, Tails approached Sonic and the others, who were helping the civilians repair the damage done to their home. Sonic and Amy helped a family back into their house while Tangle and Whisper were in the process of rebuilding someone's rooftop. Blaze was comforting an anxious Cream, who was worried about her best friend's safety. Shade was helping her scout troop relax after all the chaos. The kids were admiring their leader's martial arts skills. The orange echidna chuckled, as she remembered feeling great while fighting Neo. Silver helped Sonic and Amy with the reconstruction.

The blue hedgehog noticed his best friend coming near him.

"I just told Knuckles that G-merl's in Apotos," Tails said. "I suggest we get there before something bad happens,"

"I couldn't agree more, little dude," Sonic winked, patting Tails' shoulder. He came over to Blaze and Cream. The former smiled and walked up to him. "How's she doing?"

"She's… all right," Blaze said. "I told her that G-merl's a strong robot. He can take care of himself for now."

"Which is why we should hurry," Tails said. Amy, Tangle, Whisper, and Silver stepped towards the group. Everyone nodded and prepared to leave the village, but Amy noticed that Shade was looking at them; she also noticed she was tiptoeing away from them.

The pink hedgehog raised an eyebrow before running over to her, gently grabbing her arm.

"Wait, Shade," Amy said. To which the echidna turned around. "Come with us. We could catch up with each other. We can talk about your cute outfit. Really love the purple mixed in with the black. It really brings out your eyes."

"Amy," Shade sighed. "I-"

"And wow! That was amazing!"

"What was amazing?"

"The fight between you and Neo! He barely hit you! That was incredible! We should be sparring buddies some time,"

"Amy- "

"And another thing- "

" _AMY ROSE, PLEASE STOP TALKING!_ "

The pink hedgehog startled.

The orange echidna closed her purple eyes and sighed, as she gently pressed her hand against her face.

"Sorry, Amy," Shade apologized. "I didn't mean to shout like that… what I need to tell you is.. is that I can't come back with you."

"What?" Amy asked. "Why not?"

"Because of what I did to you," Shade replied, turning her back towards the hedgehog. "I'll never forgive myself for what I've done."

"What did you do?"

"You know what I did."

"No, I don't… come with us, you can talk to Knuckles again."

Shade gasped once she heard Knuckles' name. She back away slowly; her forehead was sweaty, and her stomach clenched. She grasped her chest and began running away.

Amy began to chase her until Sonic stopped her.

"Shade, wait!" Amy called. To which the echidna tripped on her feet. She got back up, turned back, and then ran away until she disappeared from sight.

"Let her go, Ames," Sonic said. "I think she needs some space."

As Sonic regrouped with everyone else, Amy glanced back. Wondering what turmoil Shade was battling, she sighed and began walking away. Tangle ran up to the hedgehog and wrapped her arm around her, trying to turn her frown upside down.

"Not to worry," Tangle said. "She'll come around… they always do. It's part of the hero's journey. They stay away from the fight for a little bit, but with the help of someone special, they come back and steal the show."

Amy briefly smiled at the lemur's comment, as her team began their journey to Apotos.

Tails ran towards Sonic and said, "Hey, Sonic… do you think we could make some time to talk?... alone?"

Sonic thought about what Amy said before, about how he should take some time to hear him out and nodded. "Sure, little buddy. Let's find G-merl and then we can talk."

Tails smiled. "Gotcha."

The brothers ran alongside the rest of the resistance. _**(2)**_

* * *

After hearing word from Team Dark that an ancient robot was running amuck, Nack the Weasel jumped on his bike and rode it down to his hometown, Spiral Hill Village.

As he rode down the road, he looked up at a relatively small, but quaint town. It was densely built and possessed both stone houses and a distinctive tower.

As the name implied, it was situated on a tall, spiraling hill with rather steep steps. Ones that Nack hated driving his bike on. As he made his way up, he entered the town.

He rode around the streets and glanced around his environment.

Shops, houses, businesses, and iconic institutions such as the Mineral Museum were present.

Most people smiled and waved at him, but he ignored them due to his cold personality. Although, the one exception were the ladies. He smiled and showed off his large tooth at them, but they were grossed out every time they saw him. So much that one of them threw a tomato at him.

As he wiped off the fruit, he looked to the right and found a small blue house with three mailboxes on the front lawn. He flipped his blinker on and looked over his shoulder.

Pulling to the left, he slowly backed into his driveway, trying to avoid hitting a green car behind him.

The purple weasel jumped out of the vehicle, grabbed three boxes of pizza from the back of his bike, and walked over to the mailboxes; they were labeled, _"Nack," "Bean,"_ and _"Bark."_ Opening the door of his mailbox, he took out a few letters. He sorted through them, as he walked to the front door. _**(2s)**_

"Bills, more bills, letters from my Mom, death threats, death threats from my Mom." Nack said. He placed the pizzas and letters down beside him and took out his key. He opened the door and was greeted to the usual business that happened inside.

Bark the Polar Bear was wrestling with a training dummy by a boxing ring in the back corner while his cohort, Bean the Dynamite-Duck was watching soccer. He was holding an actual soccer ball in his hands.

"Come on, come on! Go, go!" the green duck shouted at the TV. The team he was rooting for, _"The Pontacs"_ were losing to their competitors, _"The Graffs._ " Bean shook his fist around and watched as one of the Pontacs slipped and fell on their feet. One member of the Graffs kicked the ball into the goal net. "Ninja kick the darn ball! Do something!"

Bark punched the training dummy before he grabbed it by the sides and flipped it over.

Nack shook his head and grabbed the pizzas and letters. "Hello, mates! Guess what I got?"

"Not now, boss-man-chief-big-kahuna!" Bean replied. "I'm trying to watch the game! _Dow!_ Why did you let that guy take the ball from you! Gosh, darn it!"

"But, Bean," Nack smiled. He entered the kitchen and sat the pizzas down on the table. He opened one up to reveal steaming hot, pepperoni and sausage goodness. "I got your favorite."

Sniffing the air, Bean's eyes lit up and he quickly jerked his head around. He paused the TV and his mouth watered. Bark stopped wrestling because he was fascinated by the smell of cheese and tomato sauce.

"Is that… is that…" Bean said in awe. " _Pepperoni!?_ "

Nack nodded.

The green duck zoomed over to the table and grabbed three slices on his plate. Bark walked over and took one slice. Nack, on the other hand, took two.

The Hooligans sat down and enjoyed their dinner.

Finishing one slice, Nack wiped his hands. "Listen up, boys. I got a mission for us."

Bean gulped down his slices and took another. "Mission? You're kidding, right? We haven't had any work since that whole Death Egg Fighting Tournament. Now, I know we fought Speedy Cheese and Two-Tailed Clown in Mirage Saloon Zone, but we were just illusions made that one Eggman Robot… then, again, that whole scenario took place in another dimension… or was it the past?"

Nack and Bark exchanged looks of confusion.

"That's not what I was implying, Bean," Nack said, placing his hands together. "What if I told you that I found a way we could make some extra dough?"

"Then, I say you have my attention. So, Nacky Wacky, what's the juicy story?"

Bark rubbed the back of his head.

"Well, mates, I heard from Team Dark that there's an ancient, masterless, and freelancing robot out on the loose," Nack said. "He's probably profitable on the open market. If we sell him to the right person, we're bound to be stinkin' rich!"

Bean and Bark exchanged curious looks.

What Nack was saying sounded like a good idea, so they nodded. But there was one problem, which even Nack himself pointed out.

"But there is one problem we have, boys," Nack said. "I have no idea where this robot is. Team Dark was checking around the Mystic Jungle, but they didn't find him. I searched around myself and couldn't find jack-diddlysquat. Where the heck are we gonna find him?"

The white polar bear stroked his chin, as he ate his pizza.

Snapping his fingers, the green duck smiled because he thought of an idea. "I got it!"

He reached into Hammerspace and pulled out a large book titled, _"Awakened."_

"We'll check the book!" Bean shouted. He plopped it on the table and flipped through the pages. It didn't take him long to figure out Synergy's location. "Ah-ha! Chapter 21 states that he and some cat named Biggy are traveling through Apotos."

"Apotos?" Nack gasped. "That's a whole continent over! But it ain't nothin' the Marvelous Queen can't handle!"

Bark nodded, as he finished his meal.

Bean gulped down the rest of his pizza, as he and his teammates opened the door and ran down the steps.

"Come on, boys!" Nack grinned. He and the Hooligans hopped onto the Marvelous Queen. Turning the keys and checking the mirrors, the bike pulled out and drove down the road. "Let's go get rich!"

* * *

 _~G-merl's P.O.V._

Now, I know what you're thinking. _"G-merl, why did you teleport away from Cream? You're supposed to be her guardian. What the heck is wrong with you?"_

First off, I think of myself as an older brother than a guardian to Cream. Second, I did it to protect her.

Metal Sonic, who had been upgraded to some kind of super form, attacked Windmill Village with some of Eggman's forces. He said something about wanting me to join Eggman, which caught me off guard. The last time I worked for Eggman, I betrayed him. I stole the Chaos Emeralds and used them to achieve my ultimate form. I was just about ready to destroy everything in my path until Super Sonic and Eggman worked together to stop me.

Last time I checked; the Doctor was beyond ticked when I turned on him. Why would he want me back?

It's like when you break up with someone because they've been cheating on you, yet you want them back. It's weird, I tell ya.

Of course, I refused the offer because why would I go back to Eggman? I have a family with Cream, Vanilla, Tails, Sonic, and the others. I wouldn't trade what we have for anything. So, I fought against Neo to the best of my ability, but no matter how much I had in my arsenal, Neo found a way to get back up.

To avoid him doing more damage to the town, I decided to use the Chaos Emeralds inside of him to perform Chaos Control.

At first, I didn't think it would work, but it did to my surprise.

But as my day couldn't get any stranger… I run into the guy from my flashbacks…

…Project: Synergy.

The blue/green Gizoid has been haunting me as of late and I don't know why. As most of you know, I was built from the data of my predecessor, Emerl. I have his personality and some of his old memories, but I never knew I had memories of his old days.

From day one, I've been seeing Synergy in my flashbacks and it made me wonder if we have some sort of a connection to each other.

Well, now was my chance to know why.

But how would I ask him. It's not like I could just go, _"Hey, Synergy. I've been seeing you in my flashbacks lately. Why is that?"_

How would one respond to that?

I didn't know what to do. He was staring at me and I was staring at him.

Both of us were starstruck to see each other again…

…what on Mobius am I gonna do?

* * *

 _~Synergy's P.O.V._

I guess the phrase _"You learn something new every day"_ is true.

I never would have thought I'd see him again.

My old colleague, Project: Emerl was standing right in front of me with what looked to be a bulked-up Metal Sonic. I remember that loser from the tomb a few days ago. He and Sonic woke me from my sleep. What the heck was he doing with Project: Emerl?

Speaking of my old friend, he was standing there, staring at me if I was an alien from outer space.

Why was he like this? Is he happy to see me or does he not remember me?

I wanted to talk to him, but I didn't know what I would say. We haven't seen each other in so long. He was barely recognizable. I didn't know who he was until he told me an old memory we shared.

Now I'm not one to judge someone by their looks, but he looked odd.

He was an olive-brown the last time I saw him. Now he's black and yellow like a bumblebee.

I scratched my head and looked at Big. He too, was shocked by this turn of events. He smiled at the Gizoid and approached him.

"G-merl!" he smiled, as he hugged the robot.

G-merl? What kind of ridiculous name was that? Whoever named him just took the letter _G_ and put it in front of his name. That's just lazy.

Emerl hugged the cat and greeted him kindly, but he couldn't take his eyes off me.

I didn't know how to react to this. My old best friend was alive, and he got an upgrade. What has happened since I've been struck by lightning? How long was I asleep?

Project: Emerl approached me along with Big; the latter introduced us to one another….

…what was I gonna do?

* * *

 _~Present Day._

"G-merl, this is Synergy," Big smiled at both Gizoids. "Synergy, this is G-merl. He's an honorary member of Team Rose."

"Team Rose?" Synergy inquired.

"They're my friends," G-merl said. "Amy, Cream, and Big. They're all part of that team."

Synergy fell silent for a quick moment. "I didn't think you were still alive. It has been quite some time, hasn't it, Project: Emerl?"

"I don't go by that name anymore… It's G-merl now."

"So, I've heard…" Synergy said silently. It didn't take long for him to grab G-merl by the shoulders. He had many questions that he wanted answered. "Where have you been this whole time? How did you survive that black hole in the sky? Are the Nocturnus Clan still alive?-"

Cutting him off, G-merl said, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down, you re-color! A Black hole in the sky, what does that even mean?"

Synergy's eyes widened. "You mean, you don't remember? We were sitting by the campfire with the soldiers, celebrating the aftermath of the Echidna War. Then, a giant portal shows up and starts causing havoc. We tried to escape, but I was struck by lightning!"

G-merl and Big were befuddled.

"I have the data of my predecessor, but I don't recall a lot of memories from those days." G-merl replied.

"Predecessor?" Synergy asked. He started to freak out. "W-what does that mean!? Was your original body destroyed? What is going on here!?"

"Synergy," Big said in concern. "You're starting to scare me. Please, don't become mean."

"I'm not becoming mean, Big!" Synergy replied. "I-I'm confused! How is it that your data was saved yet your original body was destroyed… when did this happen!? Oh, my gosh! I can't believe… wait a minute… how long have I been asleep for?"

G-merl folded his arms. "4,000 years."

Synergy jumped and waved his arms around. " _ **WHAT!?**_ _I've been trapped in that tomb for four millennia!?_ N-no! This cannot be! How is that possible!?"

Big and G-merl exchanged nervous looks.

Placing his hands against his knees, Synergy found it difficult time registering such perturbation. "This can't be possible… this isn't real… tell me this isn't true… I can't believe I've been gone for so long… did they forget about me… what am I gonna do now?"

G-merl approached the Gizoid, but Synergy backed away, rubbing his head.

"They're probably dead," Synergy rambled on. "They all died and… wait…" the Gizoid snapped his fingers because he thought of a reason for all of this. "Maybe they're still alive. Maybe the Nocturnus Clan developed new technologies as time progressed; new tech that's able to make them immortal. They rebuilt you with new materials to make you stronger, Emerl, because they somehow knew they'd have to fight stronger enemies in the future… it makes perfect sense! They must have upgraded all of the Gizoids, so that they'd be stronger… Ha-ha! Maybe when I return, they'll give me an upgrade too!"

The black/yellow robot was in complete disbelief. Big was just as confused as he was.

Facepalming himself gently, G-merl replied to Synergy's assumption. "You know, it's amazing. You are 100% wrong… I mean nothing you've said has been right."

Synergy asked. "Please, Emerl… tell me the Nocturnus Clan are okay."

"First off, my name is _G-merl!_ G-E-M-E-R-L. Sometimes, it's spelt with a hyphen between the _G_ and the _M_. Second, I-"

" _NEO METAL SONIC SYSTEM: RECALIBRATING."_

"You gotta be kidding me."

Turning around, G-merl watched as Neo Metal Sonic woke up from his slumber. The bulked-up monstrosity rubbed his head and got up on his feet, glaring at the Gizoid that knocked him down.

Synergy stood in front of Big, fearing that Neo was up to something.

"I must admit, G-merl… you surprised me," Neo said with a sneer. "How did you tap into the Chaos Emeralds' powers? They're inside my body."

"Luck, I guess," G-merl replied with a growl.

Neo scoffed. "Well, luck's not going to help you this time. You're coming back to the Eggman Empire whether you like it or…" He looked over G-merl's shoulder and saw Synergy and Big. "Well, well, well… Synergy. About time we meet again."

"Metal Sonic, right?" Synergy asked, stepping forward. "Didn't I kill you in that tomb? I stole that Chaos Emerald from you, right?"

"Why yes… you did," Neo nodded, as he clenched his fists. "Speaking of which, where is that thing? My boss could use it for his plans."

"Dr. Eggman's your boss, right?" Synergy inquired. "I'm getting really tired of that guy chasing me around. As for the Chaos Emerald, I no longer have it. I did, at first, but that buffoon, Sonic, took it from me… Listen, Neo. I know your boss is after me and like I said, I'm getting pretty sick of him. So, I'm gonna give you one chance to go back and tell him to leave me alone, or… I can dismantle you and tell him myself."

"It's cute how you think you stand a chance against me," Neo folded his arms. "I have the power of six Chaos Emeralds at my disposal."

"Please, leave, Metal Sonic," Big said. "We don't want mean people here."

"Quite, fatty! I'm not aborting my mission."

"Call him fat again and you'll see what happens next." G-merl snarled.

"Enough!" Neo snarled one more time. "I'm growing tired of all this talking. Are you two going to cooperate with me or-"

Synergy extended his Chaos Claws and stretched them out, wrapping his arms around Neo. Lifting him off the ground, Synergy chucked the robot hedgehog over the side. Neo fell straight down to where the water was below.

G-merl and Big looked at Synergy; they were surprised he dealt with Neo so easily.

Said blue and green wiped his hands. "Even when he's in his _'ultimate form,'_ he still gets taken down like a wimp. Talk about a lousy upgrade." _**(3)**_

Suddenly, Neo teleported in front of Synergy and grabbed him by the neck.

Lifting him up in the air, Neo spun Synergy around in a circle before he chucked him across the village. The blue/green Gizoid flew through the sky before he crashed into the rooftop of a building; pieces of debris rained down and nearly crushed a family of four.

Dazed, Synergy shook his head and moaned. Neo quickly landed before him and smacked him across the village with a powerful Chaos Spear.

"Synergy!" Big called.

"Come on, Big," G-merl said. "As much as I hate to do this, we have to help him. Let's go!"

Without hesitation, Big and G-merl ran after the two combatants.

* * *

Neo smacked Synergy against the stone ground. Around them, civilians panicked and ran for their lives.

"Unhand me, you scoundrel!" Synergy snarled. "This is not how you treat your king!"

Synergy morphed his hands into Chaos Claws and scratched Neo's face, kicking the robot off of him.

Neo skidded across the ground and boosted towards the Gizoid. "King?" he chuckled. "Don't make me laugh. You have no power around here!"

Slashing the robotic hedgehog's chest three times, Synergy roundhouse kicked him before his hands transformed into drills that resembled Knuckles' claws. As soon as he was about to attack, Neo formed a shield made of Chaos Energy around his body, making it difficult for Synergy to pierce through.

Neo teleported behind him and kicked him into a brick wall.

"You're no match for me, Synergy!" Neo snarled. "Just surrender yourself to the Eggman Empire, and I'll save you from an embarrassing defeat."

Synergy scoffed. "Your Chaos Energy levels are off the charts, but that's not gonna stop me! I dismantled you once, I'll do it again!"

Just as Synergy got back up and re-activated his Knuckles Drills, Neo summoned a Chaos Spear and threw it forward. The Gizoid rolled underneath the spear, as it flew over to a group of people. They all cowered in fear.

But before they could be burnt to a crisp, G-merl and Big came in to save the day. The latter pushed the people out of the way; the former destroyed the spear with a missile. Smoke from the impact spewed all over G-merl's face and the robot himself wiped it away, as he watched the fight between Synergy and Neo continue; the two combatants were in the middle of a fist fight.

Synergy punched Neo twice.

The latter grabbed the former and flipped him over, slamming him against the concrete.

G-merl teleported forward and appeared in front of Neo, as he began punching and kicking him. Neo swatted at the black/yellow robot with all of his might, but because of how fast G-merl was, he couldn't touch him.

Teleporting behind Neo and wrapping his arms around him, G-merl jumped backward and slammed Neo's head against the ground. Getting up, G-merl grabbed the upgraded Metal Sonic by his quills and fired an uppercut against his chin.

This gave Synergy the chance to leap upward and slam his foot into Neo's chest, forcing him to crash into the stone ground.

The two Gizoids landed beside each other.

"D-did we just perform a team attack move?" G-merl asked his former ally.

"Just like the old days, Emerl," Synergy replied happily. "So good to have you back. Although, you do have a lot to explain to me."

"Again, my name is G-merl… and let me just tell you, you're in for quite a story, but first, let's deal with this creep!"

"Agreed!"

Synergy and G-merl boosted forward and grabbed Neo by his arms, holding him back.

"Chaos Blast!" Neo shouted. He forced both Gizoids off of him with a powerful energy blast.

Tumbling across the concrete floor, Synergy extended his claws and grabbed Neo's face. He lifted him into the air and slammed him against a bench. G-merl jumped up, curled into a ball, and homing attacked into Neo's chest three times.

"Chaos Spear!" Neo shouted, as he whacked G-merl with a golden arrow.

Synergy caught G-merl and placed him down, as he lunged forward and morphed his hands into Knuckles Drills. Neo formed the same shield as before around him, which countered Synergy's attack. Suddenly, the metallic hedgehog de-activated the shield and teleported behind Synergy.

Just as he was about to grab him, a black shadow appeared underneath his feet.

"Huh?" Neo looked down and rubbed his head at the shadow; he wondered what it was. Synergy knew and the answer and rolled out of the way. Looking up, Neo's eyes widened.

Big the Cat was going to body slam on top of him.

"Doggy pile!" Big laughed.

But because of his upgrade, Neo lunged to the side and kicked the chubby cat in the chest, sending him flying against a brick wall.

"Big!" Synergy and G-merl shouted in worry; they growled at the villain and prepared to fight back.

"Is this the best you can do?" Neo scoffed. "I am the Ultimate Life Form! Nothing can stop me!" _**(3s)**_

 _ **SNIKT! (4)**_

Neo was stabbed by a green-colored Chaos Spear.

G-merl and Synergy, who were helping Big on his feet, widened their eyes with shock.

Neo turned around to see who stabbed him in the chest. It wasn't Sonic… it was Shadow the Hedgehog.

"W-what?"

"Sorry, Neo… But there's only room for _one_ Ultimate Life Form." _**(4s)**_

Shadow removed the spear from Neo's chest and kicked him to the ground. Rouge the Bat flew beside him and dug her fingers into Neo's chest. She pulled out all six of the Chaos Emeralds.

Neo moaned at the highest pitch his voice chip could go until his voice started to get deeper… and deeper… and deeper.

And then finally, he was silent.

Rouge gathered the emeralds together and placed them on the ground. She then took out a metal case and stuck them all inside.

"One more of these babies and I'll be a happy bat," Rouge quipped. But Shadow was in no mood for jokes nor was his colleague, E-123 Omega. Speaking of which, the destructive super robot walked to the left of his team, as he aimed a large missile at Synergy's head.

"PROJECT: SYNERGY HAS BEEN LOCATED. INITIATING ATTACK MODE NOW!" Omega said.

Big cowered in fear and covered his eyes.

Synergy cracked his fingers and unleashed his Knuckles Drills.

As Team Dark and Synergy prepared themselves for a fight, G-merl stepped in between them.

"Hold on a second!" G-merl said. Everyone fell silent. Big removed his hands from his eyes and approached both Gizoids. "Shadow, Rouge, Omega… nice to see you three again."

"I don't believe we've met," Rouge smiled, offering her hand. "Although, you do look familiar."

"My name's G-merl. But you once knew me as-"

"Emerl," said Shadow. "Looks like Tails did rebuild you after all."

"Yep."

"Which means you're one of the good guys. In that case, move aside, G-merl. Synergy is under arrest."

"Hold on a second, Shadow… listen to me for a quick moment."

"Talk fast, sweetie," Rouge said. "Omega's been itching for a fight and I'm pretty sure you know how stubborn Shadow can be."

G-merl turned to Big and Synergy; they both exchanged looks of curiosity. He then turned back to Team Dark; the three were waiting to do their job.

Rubbing his eyes and flexing his shoulders, G-merl turned around and wrapped his arm over Synergy's shoulder.

"Come, Synergy… I think it's time I told you what you've missed."

Both Gizoids began walking down the street.

"Please don't arrest Synergy," Big said softly. "I know he's a bad guy, but I want to give him a chance."

"A CHANCE TO DO WHAT?" Omega inquired.

"… to change."

* * *

It was nighttime in the Mystic Ruins and most of the Eggman Empire was heading to bed. Rough and Tumble were going to sleep, so they can plan out their next scheme against the Resistance. Orbot and Cubot were doing some last-minute sweeps of the lair, and Dr. Starline was getting ready for a long night's slumber.

He approached his boss, who was waiting by the computer monitor. He has been anxious to hear back from Neo after he and G-merl mysteriously disappeared.

Tapping his toes and twiddling his thumbs, Dr. Eggman became impatient. He took a sip of his hot chocolate and continued waiting.

"It's a little late, don't you think, Doctor?" Dr. Starline asked. "As a master of evil, you should get some sleep. A good scientist needs plenty of energy for the next day."

"You're starting to sound like that one motivational speaker I had, Starline," Dr. Eggman replied. "Have you heard back from Neo? It's been too long since I sent him out to find G-merl."

"Unfortunately, I haven't gotten anything from him, Sir. My apologies."

"Darn it!" Dr. Eggman slammed his fist against the desk. He placed his hands behind his back and approached the platypus. "How are things going with the rest of my Gizoid army?"

"Very good, Doctor. Rough and Tumble were able to retrieve some prototype Gizoids from the Frozen Peak and the Echo Mine. Though, this is probably none of my business, but I noticed that those robots were made during the Phantom Ruby War. Were you planning on using them against the Resistance?"

Dr. Eggman stroked his mustache, as he picked up an Eggman themed privacy screen from the floor. He folded it up and went inside. He was changing into his pajamas.

"As a matter of fact, I was," he replied. "But as I started to get more familiar with the Phantom Ruby, I decided to use that to build most of my empire. Sadly, my addiction to said ruby would result into not only the defeat of that weakling, Infinite, but it caused the downfall of my empire."

"And here I thought it was Sonic, Midget Sonic, and Original the Character that did that, Boss," Orbot said.

"Shut up!" Dr. Eggman yelled. He exited his privacy screen, showing off his sleeping attire. He was wearing pink pajamas with his logo on the chest. He also had a white hat with orange polka dots on them. "I've forgotten about them since the War ended. I remembered their existence as soon as you first informed me about Project: Synergy."

"Of course… Now, I hate to question you again, but if you have a large army of prototype Gizoids are your disposal, why do you need G-merl?"

"Despite his betrayal, G-merl was a powerful scullion. When I used Chaos Control to divide Mobius into seven chunks, he would always follow Sonic and his friends around, taking them by surprise. Yes, they always defeated him, but G-merl always knew how to set the perfect trap."

"Tis a shame Tails had to take all of that destructive programming away from G-merl. He'd be easier to catch that way."

"Oh… don't worry, Starline," Dr. Eggman chuckled. "I know how to get the old G-merl back. _Just you wait and see_."

 _ **END OF CHAPTER 22**_

* * *

 _Oh, boy! So much went down for this story's return. Knuckles and the Chaotix have discovered G-merl's original body, Sonic and the others have tracked down their robotic ally, Shade has refused to join the mission, Team Hooligan joins the hunt, G-merl and Synergy meet again, and now Dr. Eggman has another trick up his sleeve! Can this get any worse!? What will Dr. Eggman's plan be? What's the deal with Emerl's body in that laboratory? Why won't Shade join Sonic and the others? A million questions are asked and they will all be answered. Tune in next time for when the two Gizoids talk once more in..._

 _"Chapter 23: So, We Meet Again."_

* * *

 ** _POST-A/N:_**

 _Originally, the Babylon Rogues were supposed to be in this story. Their role would be the same as the Hooligans, but since they're already a minor part in my other story, Sonic Heroes: The Atom Bomb, I decided to replace them with more classic characters. Gotta say, I think that was a much better choice. You don't see the Hooligans a lot nowadays aside from their cameo in Sonic Mania. Here's to hoping them, Mighty, and Ray make appearances in IDW Sonic Comics._

 _Originally, Shade was supposed to join Sonic and the others on their adventure to find Big and Synergy, but I had a feeling that would take away from her story-arc. I plan on dedicating a whole chapter to her reason for not talking to Knuckles, Sonic, and the others._

 _This chapter had to go through a whole rewrite before it turned into this final product. In the rough draft, Knuckles and the Chaotix not only found Emerl, but they also found clones of the Nocturnus Clan as well as Shade. While I was happy with that chapter, I deleted it because it was nothing but a big action scene that didn't advance the story. In the words of my English Teacher, "If it has nothing to do with the story, leave it out."_

 _As usual, don't forget to R &R and tell me what you thought of the chapter and the story as a whole so far. Thank you all so much for reading this chapter, I'm The Sensational SpiderDom321 and I'll see you all next time!_

 _~SD321 (SpiderDom321)_


	23. So, We Meet Again

_**A/N:** Hello, everyone! Sorry it has been a while since I have updated this story and other works. But I have been busy enjoying my summer hiatus, working, and planning out my personal projects. But before I spend the rest of my summer doing that, I've been wanting to get another chapter of Awakened out for a while, as this is my personal favorite story to work on. Not to say I don't like working on my other ones, but this one I like doing for some reason. Special thanks to all of those who have supported/reviewed this since day one, and thank you, Infinite's Ruby, for helping me out with this story as always._

 ** _Suggested Music:_**

 ** _(1) Apotos Hub World (Night) - Sonic Unleashed OST_**

 ** _(2) Holaska Hub World (Night) - Sonic Unleashed OST_**

 ** _(3) Werehog Battle Theme - Sonic Unleashed OST_**

 _Without further ado, enjoy the show!_

* * *

 **So, We Meet Again**

 _~G-merl's P.O.V. **(1)**_

I must admit, I didn't expect my day to turn out the way it did.

One moment, I was in Windmill Village playing with Cream, Marine, and Shade's scouts. The next thing I know, Metal Sonic comes around and demands I rejoin the Eggman Empire. Knowing me, I wasn't down for that.

To keep Metal from hurting anyone else, so I used Chaos Control to teleport him and I to a different location. At first, I thought we'd end up in Route 99 or something, but nope… we crash land in Apotos and who do I meet… Synergy: the guy who's been haunting me since day one.

At first, I thought he'd try to attack me or something, but instead, he was excited to see me. I guess we had a pretty good relationship back then. He asked questions like, "Where's Imperator Ix?" "Are the Nocturnus Clan still alive?" "What's happened to you?"

Before I could respond, Metal Sonic came back online, wanting to have a rematch.

With the help of Synergy and Team Dark, I was able to kick Metal to the curb. But just Shadow and Omega approached Synergy, preparing to arrest him. Normally, I would be totally cool with this, as I have a strange feeling he's up to something terrible, but… I didn't.

Before the fight with Metal, Big told me that he wants to give Synergy a second chance. In other words, he wants Synergy to live a peaceful life on Mobius instead of taking it over like some generic dictator.

I could have said there's no hope for Synergy being good but seeing as how I was evil and turned out good in the end, I figured… Synergy could do the same thing.

So, the two of us spent the rest of the day walking down the grassy hills of Apotos. Big and Team Dark were following right behind us. Big was happy to see us talking, Rouge was happy too, somewhat. As with Shadow and Omega, they couldn't care less. I was telling Synergy all that he's missed since his shutdown four-thousand-years ago. I told him the story of my days with Gerald Robotnik, the time I was thrown out by his grandson, the day I met Sonic, and my personal favorite memory, the day I met Cream for the first time. You can't beat a classic moment like that, you know.

I hate to admit it but walking with Synergy was quite nice.

The sun was setting, and the moon was rising; it truly was a beautiful sight. The wind was cool, and the temperature was just right. But the weather wasn't the only thing that made the moment nice, it was getting to talk with Synergy.

Now before you all say stuff like, "Why are you talking to him? He's evil. Shade told you he's a villain who'll stop at nothing to get what he wants," Let me just say that I got to see a different side of him… sort of.

As I talked about my adventures, I could easily tell he was intrigued. He oohed and ahhed when I talked about fighting Chaos Gamma clones with Sonic and Cream, and he laughed when I told him I kicked Knuckles' butt. It was a nice cooldown moment after all that action occurred earlier.

So, now you must be asking, "What is the point of this?" Well, that question's not too hard to answer. Walking with Synergy generated another flashback from my old Nocturnus Clan days. Only this time, he wasn't in this one… this one starred me and Shade. _**(1s)**_

* * *

 _~G-merl's P.O.V. (Continued)_

Shade and I were walking through Sand Hill one night. We were sent on a recon mission to scout for any members of the Knuckles Clan. The Echidna War was only a few days away, so we had to make sure we weren't caught off guard.

As we scouted the area, I looked up at the night sky; darkness was illuminated by beautiful stars.

To pass the time, I would try and count every star in the sky as well as try to find every constellation up there. I'm pretty sure I lost once I got up to one-hundred-and-fifty stars and I'm positive I only found two constellations.

I'm not good as astronomy nor astrology.

As we walked down the path, Shade started talking to me.

"See anything, Emerl?" she asked. I looked down from the sky and saw her again, wearing her black and purple armor. It was weird seeing her like that again after I just saw her in casual clothing.

"Negative," I replied. "No sign of the Knuckles Clan anywhere, Miss Shade."

"That's Procurator Shade to you!" she snarled. I forgot she took her job seriously back then.

"My apologies, Mis-I mean, Procurator Shade," I said, as I bowed my head in shame. Shade rolled her eyes and continued walking. "How are things on your end?"

"Same as you," Shade surprisingly answered my question with a kinder tone. "It seems as though the Knuckles Clan are the same old echidnas Lord Ix says they are. They're all stupid."

"How so?" I asked.

"If they were smart, they'd be setting up traps that'll catch us off-guard. Instead, they're probably sitting around drinking milk and munching on apples. I bet they're all sitting by a campfire, hugging their loved ones for the last time and having some stupid dance celebration before they march off to war."

I tilted my head to the side. "You make that sound like it's a bad thing." I knew I was gonna get in trouble for saying that.

But to my surprise, Shade just looked at me as if she wanted to say something, but she sighed. She rubbed her arms and looked at the sandy ground, kicking a small rock in the process.

"It's… It's…" She wanted to say something, but it was clear she was having trouble forming her words. I sped-walked forward until I stopped in front of her.

"Are you all right, Procurator Shade?" I asked. "I didn't say anything to offend you, did I?"

"No," she whispered. "It's not that… It's just… Emerl, could you come with me for a few minutes?"

I nodded and followed Shade down a slope.

We walked through the desert until we came across the ruins of an old temple. Shade went ahead of me and started climbing upward. I would do the same if I didn't have the ability to fly. Speaking of which, I activated my jet boosters and levitated upward.

"You want me to carry you, Procurator Shade?" I asked. It was weird calling her by that name. Not her real name, her position's name… you get my point.

"No, thanks." She replied, as she continued climbing.

We made it to the top and started walking on top of the structure. Gotta say, it was a beautiful sight. I could almost see the city of Nocturne from up here; it was awesome! As I admired the gorgeous scenery once again, Shade stopped in the middle of her tracks, which caused me to bump into her.

Embarrassed, I stepped back a few feet, wondering why she called me up here.

As I stopped and stared, I saw that she lowered her head and closed her eyes; she was obviously upset about something. What was it?

Before I could ask, she sat down by the ledge of the ruins, looking up into the starry sky.

"Sit with me, Emerl," she said to me, as she patted the spot next to her. She turned her head and looked at me with a gentle smile.

I did as I was told and sat beside her.

We both looked at the countless stars in the sky.

"Again, I hope what I said about the Knuckles Clan didn't offend you, Procurator Shade," I said again, knowing I was bound to be punished for that.

"No… you didn't offend me," Shade replied with a low sigh. She folded her arms and wrapped them around her knees. "I… I… it's not that you… no, don't say that… I..."

What was she going to say? The anticipation was killing me.

Finally, she just let it all out. "I want the same thing they have."

I cocked my head to the side. "What do you mean by _'they have?'_ "

"I guess I just want to have… friends… I've been spying on our enemies for so long, analyzing their weaknesses. But every time I spy on them… I see friends sharing jokes with each other, parents playing with their children, and… warriors caring for their families…" I watched as Shade tilted her head to the side. What she was describing was exactly how I felt when I met Sonic and the others for the first time. She turned to me and asked, "I can't be going soft, am I?"

This was a tricky question to answer.

It felt like an opinion question, but because of how Shade was back then, I had a feeling that this query had a right and a wrong answer. In other words, if I said something stupid, I was gonna get dismantled and used for spare parts on vehicles. Kind of like those robots that morph into cars, trucks, and planes.

Rubbing my head and trying to place my words together, I finally figured out the perfect response… at least, I hope so.

"So, that's your wish, to have friends, huh?" I asked. "In my opinion… I don't think you're going soft. I mean, it sounds like a nice idea. I don't have any friends amongst the other Gizoids, so I can understand why you would want real friends… Perhaps, someday… when this war against the Knuckles Clan is over, maybe I can reach out to the other Gizoids and make friends with them."

I didn't expect a response like that to come out of my systems. It took me longer than you think to come up with that, and I am praying to the Mobian Gods above me that it worked…

To my surprise, it did.

Shade smiled at my reply and nodded her head before she looked up at the stars in the sky.

"Thanks, Project: Emerl," Shade smiled. "That was… nice to you to say that… but we shouldn't worry about that now. We should get back to work."

She got up on her feet and began climbing down the temple's ruins. But just as I began to follow her, she looked up and said, "One more thing… don't tell anyone about this conversation. I'd rather it stay between us."

I nodded and replied. "Not to worry, Procurator Shade… Your secret's safe with me."

And then… my flashback faded away.

* * *

 _~G-merl's P.O.V. (Continued)_

Gotta say, of all the flashbacks that occurred over the past few days, the one I just had is my personal favorite. Not only did it give me a foreshadow of the Gizoid I'd become today, but it also gave me a chance to know more about Shade herself. I forgot that back then, she took her job as Procurator seriously. Seeing her now made me forget about the way she was back then… if only I could've helped her work up the courage to seek out Knuckles' help. It was clear she was going through some kind of funk. I wonder what's happened to her since the time she assisted Sonic and Knuckles in their quarrel against Imperator Ix.

Speaking of quarreling, I turned over my shoulder and saw Omega polishing his missile launcher. He was eyeballing Synergy, giving him a face that said, _"I will tear you limb from limb._ "

While I'm on the topic of Synergy, he was geeking out over the many adventures I've had over the years.

He paced ahead of me and started getting excited.

"I can't believe you've been through all of that!" Synergy exclaimed in an excited demeanor. "Who would have thought you'd be experimented on by Eggman's grandfather? And I never would have imagined you going berserk when Eggman destroyed a star with his laser! That battle between you and Sonic must've been intense!"

"Yeah, it was," I chuckled.

"Then, you summoned all seven Chaos Emeralds and tried to destroy everything, only to be apprehended by Sonic and Eggman… And here you are now… an Eggman Badnik turned hero. This is a hardcore origin story."

I heard Rouge snicker in the background after that comment.

"So…" Synergy froze, rubbing his arm. "This means you know nothing about our clan's whereabouts, right?"

"Correct." I replied.

"Aren't you concerned about them?" he asked, as he approached me. Omega and Shadow were ready for him to make a drastic move. "They're your original family."

" _Were_ my original family." I said with a cold tone in my voice.

"What?"

"They never treated us like family; we were nothing but soldiers to them. Meeting Cream, Sonic, Tails, and the others changed my life. When I first met them, I thought they were some band of hooligans dragging me all over the place, but as I got to know them… I realized they were inviting me into their family."

Synergy was displeased when I said that. "We weren't meant to have families back then. We were advanced war machines that only served one function… obey every command given."

"So, what you're saying is that you prefer to be bossed around by some dictator, who hinders your chances at living a normal life? Sounds like paradise to me."

"Watch your tone, Emerl. If Imperator Ix and Procurator Shade were here, they'd be disappointed by how you're talking about him. I have a feeling they're still out there, waiting for us to come home. When I find them, I'm going to tell them about what I've seen in this world. Changes have clearly been made as time has progressed. There's new technologies, foods, landmarks! Everything has changed!"

I was about to say something else, but Shadow beat me to it.

"As long as I still stand," the black hedgehog snarled. "You'll never lay a finger on this world. The Great Fourth Civilization is gone! Why can't you get that through your thick skull!?"

"Please, stop fighting," Big entered the conversation. He gently got between Shadow and Synergy. I wanted to step in and help him in case things got violent, but he looked at me and nodded as if to say he had everything under control. I slowly stepped back, wondering what's gonna happen next.

"Don't fight like this, Synergy and Shadow," the cat said calmly. "It's not nice to fight with each other."

"He's talking about world conquest, Big," Shadow snarled. "Don't you understand that?"

Big pulled Shadow to the side and nodded. I listened clearly to his response. "I know Synergy wants to be a king, but I believe he's more capable of doing good things too. I know there's some good inside of him, I've seen glimpses of it… he just needs a chance to prove himself."

Folding my arms, I looked at Shadow and could easily tell he was still skeptical about letting Synergy roam around like this, even if he's under the careful eye of Big. I myself… am a little skeptical as well; however, I feel that maybe this has a chance of working.

Think about it, I was once an evil Gizoid who committed acts of terrorism and look at me now.

I have a strong feeling this could work, as I do have faith in Big. However, something told me Team Dark was gonna give us a problem. Speaking of which, Rouge walked over to Shadow and pulled him to the side. The two began whispering to one another. Big and Synergy were slowly walking down the grassy paths, and Omega walked over to me. No, he wasn't going to shoot me for siding with the Gizoid (at least, I hope he wasn't). He wanted to tell me something regarding my opinion of all of this.

"G-MERL," he said. "ARE YOU AWARE THAT BIG THE CAT AND PROJECT: SYNERGY ARE THE MOST WANTED CRIMINALS IN THE NATION?"

"I am aware of that," I replied. "Shadow told me a while ago."

"THEN YOU MUST KNOW THAT SYNERGY IS A VILLAIN. TARGET MUST BE APPREHENDED."

"I know he's gotta be arrested, but I need you to trust Big. He has a plan to change Synergy."

"CHANGING SYNERGY'S AS IMPOSSIBLE AS FINDING A NEEDLE IN A HAYSTACK."

"It may seem that way… but you never know. Something good may come from all of this. If there's anything Cream and Vanilla have taught me… it's that good things happen to those who wait."

Omega clearly didn't give a hoot about what I had to say. It was clear he wanted to shoot Synergy. So, he just shook his head and kept moving forward. Thankfully, he didn't eradicate the Gizoid like I predicted, he just gave him a dirty look and walked by.

I know I sound crazy, looney, and other things that describe me as insane. But I trust Big and I trust my instincts…

I have a feeling this might work.

 _~End of P.O.V. **(2)**_

* * *

After spending a couple of hours looking for their friend, G-merl, Team Sonic has finally made it to the Windmill Isle on the edge of Apotos. Although, to their misfortune, they weren't in the same location as the two Gizoids, Team Dark, and Big. That group wasn't too far from where they were, but they definitely weren't in the same spot.

Sonic, Tails, Amy, Whisper, Tangle, Cream, Cheese, Silver, and Blaze walked across the grassy isle; a gentle night breeze brushed against their fur. The stars were shining bright and the moon was full. Team Sonic searched for their missing friend, hoping that he was okay.

Looking down at his Miles Electric, Tails nodded as he saw that G-merl's signal was getting stronger by the second. But he still hoped that nothing terrible happened to him.

As with Sonic, he turned around and looked at his younger brother.

He remembered that he'd been wanting to talk to him about something important; Amy reminded him of this as they were traveling through the Mystic Ruins. Sonic hoped that after he finds G-merl, he could make some time to talk to his little brother, as he had been concerned with him ever since he took on Synergy in Soleanna. Sighing, Sonic folded his arms behind his quills, looking up into the starry night sky.

"You okay, Sonic?" Amy asked, as she approached him.

"Eh, I'm all right, Amy," Sonic replied. He looked to the side and saw that Tangle was walking beside a devastated Cream; the lemur was trying to comfort the rabbit by telling her about her hometown and all the activities she does there with her friends. Whisper listened, as she felt she needed a break from all the fighting that's occurred. "How's Cream doing?"

"She's pretty good," Amy replied. "Thank goodness Tangle's keeping her occupied. She really knows how to bring out the best in people."

"I agree," Sonic nodded. "But I'm still hoping we find G-merl soon. We haven't seen him since Synergy woke up… makes me wonder if he's found out about Synergy."

"Funny you should say that, Sonic," Blaze walked up to the hedgehogs. "G-merl's been having some flashbacks about that Gizoid for a while now. When I first met him, he told me and Cream about the vision he had. We went to the Mystic Ruins to look for you, but instead, we found Windmill Village… and that's where we found Shade."

"So, G-merl's met Synergy, huh?" Sonic asked.

"Not in person," Blaze shook her head. "But I guess you can say that."

"Since G-merl's known Synergy in the past," Silver said. "Maybe he can tell us about his evil plot. What he wants with Big and why he's so bent on world conquest."

"Let's focus on finding our friend, first," Amy said. "That's our main priority."

Suddenly, a voice shouted from the sky above.

"Hey, you guys!"

It was Charmy Bee.

Team Sonic turned around and saw Charmy carrying Espio and Vector, Ray carrying Mighty, and Knuckles gliding towards them. They all smiled and waved at their teammates, as the latter team landed on the ground. Walking towards them, Knuckles was eager to express his news.

"Hey, guys," Knuckles said. "We just found something big."

"Same here," Tails replied. "What did you guys discover?"

Knuckles nervously looked at Team Chaotix, Mighty, and Ray.

"We found the original body of Emerl," Mighty said.

" _WHAT!?_ " Every member of Team Sonic shouted.

"T-this isn't possible!" Tails said. " _How_ is that possible!?"

"Wait, what's going on?" Tangle inquired. "Who is Emerl? Is he important to the plot?"

"Emerl was G-merl's predecessor," Amy replied. "Knuckles, where did you find the body?"

"It was Eggman's laboratory in the Mystic Jungle," Knuckles answered. "Gadget, Fuchsia, and Corvin are investigating it back at the HQ. So far, we've discovered that it's not the real Emerl. It's a clone."

"We predict that Eggman was planning to use the clone as a way of scaring us since we were close to Emerl several years ago, but we are not sure why he didn't bother to use it." Espio said.

"Simple; he was addicted to that stupid, illusionary, gemstone." Sonic nodded.

"This day's just getting crazy," Tangle said. "First we go on a wild goose chase to find G-merl, then we meet a female echidna, Metal Sonic attacks us, and now-"

Knuckles widened his eyes when he heard the words female and echidna. "Wait, back up, back up… did you say you found a female echidna."

"Yep!" Tangle smiled.

"Did she have orange fur?"

"Yep!"

"Did she by any chance have pinkish-purple eyes?"

"Yep!"

 _Shade?_ Knuckles said in his mind. _She is still around… I knew it._

A smile grew on the echidna's face.

"Mr. Knuckles," Cream said. "G-merl, Miss Blaze, and I found Shade in the village before Metal Sonic attacked. She told us about Synergy, and she helped us fight against Eggman's bad guys."

"Looks like someone's happy their girlfriend is still around," Sonic smirked.

"Shut up, Sonic," Knuckles grunted in annoyance. "You all have no idea how long I've been trying to contact Shade. I've been calling her since the War ended, but she's never responded, perhaps she can help us out."

"That's a negative Ghost Rider," Amy said. "I offered her to come with us, but she just ran away… I think she might have been crying too."

"Crying?" Knuckles raised a brow. "That doesn't sound like something Shade would do. Is she okay?"

"We're not sure," Amy replied.

Knuckles fell silent for a moment.

He then turned around and folded his arms. The rest of the team wondered what was going on until they saw him march off.

"Where're you going?" Mighty asked.

"Amy, you're in charge of the Resistance until I get back." Knuckles said. To which Amy cheered.

"Hey!" Sonic said, annoyed. "How come _I'm_ not in charge!?"

"Sonic, you and I both know why you're not in charge."

"Y-y-y-you're l-leaving us?" Ray inquired.

"I'm not leaving, Ray. I… I've been trying to get in contact with Shade since the War ended. She's been on my mind lately. Since you guys have seen her, that means she's still around. I'm going to talk about stopping Synergy… Also… I've wanted to talk to her about something else."

The Resistance shared a quick glance.

"I won't be gone for long," Knuckles nodded. "I'll be back soon. Let me know if you find Big and/or G-merl."

And just like that… the red echidna ran forward and jumped into the air, gliding across the night sky.

Sonic folded his arms, as the rest of the team continued onward.

Amy lead the team down the hills. "Come on, team. We gotta get moving."

As Sonic folded his arms in annoyance that Knuckles was leaving so soon, he turned around and saw that Cream and Cheese were not following the others. He turned to her and slowly walked forward; a slight smile was on his face.

"Something wrong, Kiddo?" Sonic asked.

Cream sighed. "Mr. Sonic… do you believe G-merl's okay?"

"Sure he is! He's a super-powered, nearly indestructible, war machine! Why?"

The rabbit closed her eyes before she gave her response, "Well, it's because G-merl has been having moments where he shuts down…" her voice shook when she spoke. "I'm scared, Mr. Sonic… what if it happens again and I'm not there to protect him?... what if he falls into Eggman's clutches and becomes evil again?" She paused, as her eyes began to water.

"G-merl's the closest thing I have to a brother and I don't want to lose him." She finished.

A small tear dripped down the rabbit's cheek.

Sonic nodded and leaned downward, placing a hand on Cream's shoulder. "Don't worry, Cream," he replied with a soft tone in his voice. "We'll do everything we can to make sure G-merl doesn't become one of Egghead's tools ever again, I still haven't forgotten what Baldy Mc. Nose hair did to Emerl, there's no way I'm letting him get his greasy fingers on your brother."

Cream sniffed and wiped another tear; she smiled at Sonic's comment and nodded.

"Whatever it takes," Sonic said with a smile. "I'll make sure G-merl's safe."

" _We_ will make sure he's safe." Cream replied.

Chuckling, the blue hedgehog nodded in agreement and helped the rabbit on her feet. Just as the two of them were about to catch up to the others, Tangle approached them with some news.

"Hey, guys!" she said, pointing to the other direction. "Check this out! We found something or should I say… someone!"

"What is it, Ms. Tangle?" Cream asked.

"It's G-merl! We found him and that cat, Big!"

Sonic and Cream gasped and ran past the lemur without hesitation. Said lemur joined them, running as fast as she could. _**(2s)**_

* * *

 _~G-merl's P.O.V._

"G-merl!"

I stopped in my tracks after hearing that voice.

And all I have to say is thank Mobius it's who I think it is.

Turning around, I looked up at the top of a hill and saw Cream and the rest of the Resistance by her side. Big and Team Dark stopped when they heard Cream's voice as well, as they turned around and looked at the heroes. Synergy did the same thing.

Cream ran down the grass with her arms wide open; Cheese followed close behind her.

"Cream!" I said happily, as I leaned down and opened my arms. It didn't take Cream long to tackle me to the ground and wrap me in a giant hug. Sonic and the others ran towards us, happy to see I was okay.

Cream got off of me after a few more seconds, as Tails and Amy helped me up on my feet. As they gave me a hug, Sonic and I fist-bumped.

"Dude, that Chaos Control thing you did with Neo was awesome!" Sonic exclaimed.

"You had us worried sick, G-merl!" Amy scolded me. "Don't you ever do that again!"

"Ha-ha, sorry, guys," I replied, rubbing my head nervously. "I had to figure _some way_ to get Neo away from the people… but in all seriousness, I didn't mean to scare you, Cream. I should have thought of your reaction before I put my plan in motion… I'm sorry, Cream."

Cream wiped a small tear from her eye. "You did have me worried, G-merl, but I am proud that you saved the village from Metal Sonic… but I can only ask you to never do anything so reckless again."

I nodded. "I promise… sorry, Kiddo."

"It's okay," she hugged me again. "I'm glad you're safe."

"Chao, Chao!" Cheese nodded in agreement.

Big happily joined in the conversation. I watched as Amy and the rest of the crew rushed towards. The pink hedgehog was the first to jump into his arms. To which Big hugged her back. Mighty and Ray gave the cat a high-five while Cream and Cheese hugged him as well. I stood alongside Sonic and Silver and simply watched Team Rose reunite.

"Big, thank goodness!" Amy said. "Like G-merl, we were worried about you!"

"It's okay, Ms. Amy," Big smiled, patting Amy's back. "I'm A-Okay! It's good to see you too, Cream. And it's good to see everyone else. I missed you guys."

"You have no idea how happy we are to see you, dude," Tails smiled. "Are you hurt?"

"Nope," the cat replied with the same gesture. "I'm all right."

Just as the reunion was starting to get even more happier, I noticed that Espio looked to the side and saw Synergy, who was just blankly staring at all of us. I too, looked at the Gizoid and got a little nervous. A donnybrook was about to erupt; it was gonna get lugubrious in here. _**(3)**_

"Guys! It's him!" Espio shouted, as he lashed out his kunai and rushed for my fellow Gizoid.

It didn't take long for the other members of the Resistance, except Cream, Big, Team Dark, and I to join the fight.

Synergy took a few steps back before he suddenly avoided a punch thrown by Mighty. He tripped the armadillo on his knees and grabbed Vector's arm, knocking him on top of the former. Ray flew above Synergy with Amy's hand wrapped in his tail. He spun her around and chucked her into Synergy; she slammed her hammer against his head.

Unfortunately, Synergy grabbed the hammer and yanked it out of her hands. He twirled it around like a bo-staff and smacked her across the face with it. She was gonna be feeling that in the morning.

Sonic and Tails joined together and homed in on Synergy; the former homing attacked the Gizoid's chest while Tails punched and kicked him twice. Tails wrapped his twin tails (Yeah, I couldn't think of another word for tails) around Synergy's head and flipped him over. Sonic jumped up with his fist pulled back, ready to slam Synergy's chest. But with his quick agility, Synergy rolled out of the way and shot a Chaos Spear into Sonic's chest.

The fight just started, and I already feel it's getting old.

And it looked like Cream and Big were feeling the same way.

But as the three of us attempted to intervene, Shadow halted us.

"Hold on a second," he said to us. "Let me take care of this."

Didn't think Shadow would do something like this unless if he had some kind of ulterior motive.

He slowly approached the combatants and whipped out three Chaos Spears.

Sonic and Synergy were in the middle of a fist fight until Shadow suddenly teleported between them, slashing them with his golden energy spears. Sonic and Synergy flew backward and skidded across the dirt; a dust cloud emerged from the ground. _**(3s)**_

The Resistance gathered around Sonic and helped him up.

Big, Cream, and I stood alongside Shadow and separated Synergy from our friends.

Rouge and Omega shared a glance. They joined us in our stance.

"Guys, what's the deal!?" Sonic snarled. "Get outta the way!"

"Hold on, Sonic!" Big said. "Please, don't hurt Synergy. And Synergy, please don't hurt my other friends."

"Can you blame me?" Synergy inquired. "They attacked me first!"

"Because you're the bad guy!" Amy shouted.

"Says who?"

"Says the news and everybody else! Because of your attack on Soleanna, you and Big are the nation's most wanted!"

"Most wanted? You mean we're criminals?"

"I don't want to be a criminal." Big said.

"We won't be criminals once _I_ become king of this world!"

"Synergy becoming a king?" Sonic snarked. "Next thing you know, you're gonna tell me the Babylon Rogues are rich."

"You're not becoming king, Synergy!" Tails raised his fists and curled his tails. "You're coming with us! You're under arrest for kidnapping our friend and for acts of terrorism!"

"Wait, please don't fight anymore," Big retorted. "I can explain!"

"Move, Big!" Amy growled, wielding her hammer with both hands.

"PRIORITIES HAVE CHANGED ACCORDING TO BIG THE CAT," Omega said. "HE WISHES TO CHANGE SYNERGY FROM BAD GUY TO GOOD GUY."

"Big, you don't need to do that," Synergy claimed. "I'm not the bad guy. I'm trying to save this world by providing order-"

"Oh, sure you are, you lair!" Amy shouted again.

"Why are we all yelling!" a lemur I've never met before shouted.

That's it. I've had enough of this. I cracked my fingers and looked at Cream. We both shouted something that's sure to get everyone to stop bickering like children.

" _QUIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!_ "

To my surprise… everyone stopped.

A moratorium occurred in the night, and everyone looked at each other with confusion. Sonic and Tails scratched their heads, as Amy looked at the lemur and a biscotti-furred wolf. Team Chaotix turned to Mighty and Ray, curious as to why Cream and I stopped the fight.

"What's the big deal, guys?" Sonic asked. "Wait a minute, this guy's not mind-controlling you, is he, Big?"

"Nope…" Big replied. He approached the heroes and whispered to them. "Can we talk for a moment?"

Big and the Resistance turned around and started walking down the Windmill Isle. Team Dark joined them as well.

Synergy approached me and placed a hand on my shoulder.

Cream turned around and gasped once she saw Synergy's appearance.

"Wow," Cream said. "I didn't realize he looked just like you, G-merl."

"Who is this?" Synergy inquired, pointing at my little sister.

"Synergy, this is my best friend, Cream," I kindly replied. "Cream, this is… Synergy."

"This is the rabbit you've been living with for the longest time?" Synergy asked. He leaned down and held out his hand. "You didn't tell me she was a kid. Hi, nice to meet you."

Wow, I didn't expect him to be so gentle around Cream. Granted, we've had younger warriors in the Nocturnus Clan who were like six to nine years old and Synergy and I treated them with respect, but I didn't think he would respect someone like Cream.

To my surprise, Cream shook his hand and Cheese smiled.

"How do you do?" she smiled. "My name is Cream, and this is my friend, Cheese…" It was at that moment where I saw my best friend's smile change into a frown. "I really don't wanna to sound nosy, but why did you attack Soleanna and my friends?"

"Pardon?" Synergy replied, tilting his head to the side.

"From what Mr. Sonic told me, Mr. Big gave you his trust… and you broke it. And then you attacked Soleanna… why did you do that?"

Afraid that question would turn my fellow Gizoid hostile, I stood in front of Cream and glared at Synergy.

But again, I was surprised by Synergy's response. He stood back up and rubbed his green-colored eyes.

"I will admit, attacking Soleanna wasn't part of my plan," Synergy answered. "My goal is to turn this world into my own perfect kingdom and your friends got in my way. I didn't want to terrorize such a peaceful town, but I was left with no other choice. If I want to become king, I have to demolish those who stand in my way."

Cream cupped her hands over her mouth. "But isn't there more to life than just being a king?"

Synergy turned to her. "Hmm?"

"When G-merl was evil, I taught him that there is more to life than just being Eggman's war machine and look at him now. He's become like an older brother to me."

If I had a mouth, I would totally smile at that.

"But I was built for combat," Synergy replied. "I serve no other function than to live and serve under Imperator Ix."

"You really wanna do that for the rest of your life?" I finally spoke. "Didn't you learn a thing or two from looking at Soleanna's scenery. You had a lot of fun, didn't you?"

Synergy rubbed his arm. "Yes… I did actually. Big and I got ourselves into a lot of antics."

"Exactly! That was better than being a king, wasn't it? Kings don't get to do that." I added.

Cream nodded in agreement. "Mr. Big seems to really like you and he had a lot of fun spending time with you… don't you want to have fun like that again in the future?"

For once, Synergy looked stumped. You know you messed up badly when Cream uses her brain power to stump you, and I applaud her for having that talent. Said Gizoid took two steps back and looked at the ground, watching a gentle breeze push the grass against his ankles. He folded his arms and rubbed his arm again; I can tell he was nervous.

Cream and I exchanged a glance; we were both eager for a response.

But sadly, his response wasn't as we expected.

"I did have a lot of fun on that day…" he answered softly. "But I have a job to do. And I can't let silly party games get in my way… I'm sorry."

Synergy walked away from us while rubbing his eyes. I thought he was going towards the Resistance at first, but instead, he was walking towards one of the windmills. I think he needed some time to himself. What Cream and I said must've gotten to him. It also made me realize something… he's a lot more vulnerable than I thought he was. It was clear he liked Big a lot and he felt bad for breaking his trust. He may have acted cold during his attack on Soleanna, but I know for a fact, he was scared… afraid of losing a friend. I think that's why he kidnapped Big. He didn't see him as a bodyguard, he just wanted more time with his friend. Could he have hung out with Big without using violence? Yeah, but I admire Big for not giving up on him. His plan is to the change the Gizoid and I want to help him out. And I'm sure Cream wants the same thing too.

"G-merl," she said to me. I turned and leaned downward.

"What's up, Cream?" I replied.

"Why does Synergy want to be evil?"

I stood up and looked at my old friend. He had his arms folded and was standing near the edge of a cliff, staring off into the moonlight.

"I have a feeling he as the protentional to be good," I answered with a nod. "He just needs a best friend to guide him… like I how I needed you to help me."

My best friend looked at me and smiled before she embraced me with a more gentle hug than before. I hugged her back and felt Cheese sit on top of my head.

"I love you, G-merl," she said softly.

"I love you too, Kiddo," I replied.

As the two of us released from our hug, I heard Sonic ranting in the background.

"What!? Are you nuts!?" he yelled. "That is a stupid idea!"

Cream, Cheese, and I turned around and saw Sonic arguing with Shadow. Like I've never seen that before.

"Oh, boy," I said in a moody tone. "Better see what Speedy the Porcupine and Edgy the Hedgy are fighting about this time."

Cream laughed at my joke, as she and I strolled over to the group meeting.

 _~End of P.O.V._

 _ **END OF CHAPTER 23**_

 _ **In loving memory of Desmond Daniel Amofah "Etika" and Cameron Boyce**_

* * *

 _And so, the Resistance has finally found Big and G-merl, for real this time. And it seems that there's been a change in plans. How would G-merl and Big change Synergy's motives with the Resistance on their side? What are Sonic and Shadow arguing about? I guess we will have to find out in the next chapter, as Sonic and the others find themselves working with Synergy in..._

 _"Chapter 24: An Unlikely Alliance."_

* * *

 ** _POST-A/N:_**

 _Originally, this chapter was supposed to have a scene with the Hooligans looking for Sonic and the others and there was also another scene with Dr. Eggman and dr. Starline somehow finding out that Knuckles and the Chaotix found Emerl's body. I scrapped these two scenes because they would make the chapter too long and the latter scene wouldn't make any sense at this point of the story. It would be a little forced._

 _Knuckles is going to absent from the Resistance for a bit. There will be a chapter in this story that will showcase why Shade never spoke to Knuckles in such a long time. And if you're a fan of Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, you're gonna love that particular chapter._

 _That's all I have to say for now, my friends. Don't forget to R/R. I'm The Sensational SpiderDom321 and I'll see you all next time!_

 _~SD321 (SpiderDom321)_


	24. An Unlikely Alliance

_**A/N:** Eh... What's up, Doc? I gotta give some special thanks to all of those who have favorite and followed this story as well as the people who have reviewed. We're nearly at **120 reviews** , **20 favorites** , and **20** **follows**. If we can somehow get there, this story will hit a milestone. We're also reaching over **5,000 views!** Thank you all so much for the love and support you've poured into this story, as it has helped me and Infinite's Ruby out a lot. _

_As of this point, I have read IDW Sonic Issue #18 and I loved it! G-merl finally made his return to the comics after so many years of absence. Kinda sucks that he has a generic robot personality (That's probably a SEGA Mandate thing) but hey, it's nice to see him back again! Same with Cream, Vanilla, Cheese, and Chocola. I swear, these IDW Comics are getting so good! Yeah, they messed up Shadow's character in Issue #19 (Which is also a SEGA Mandate problem) but hey, I can't complain too much. Ian Flynn and his team are doing a great job! Though, I do wish they had more creative freedom. But hey, that's what and FictionPress are for, I guess._

 ** _Suggested Music:_**

 ** _(1)_** ** _Enemy Appears - Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games DS OST  
_**

 ** _(2) The Deadly Six Theme - Sonic Lost World OST  
_**

 ** _(3) Dr. Eggman Showdown - Sonic Lost World OST_**

 ** _(4) Gaul Phase 2 - The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night OST_**

 _Without further ado, enjoy the show!_

* * *

 **An Unlikely Alliance**

Both Sonic and Shadow were having a small argument about Big's plan to change Synergy.

G-merl and Cream gently walked towards their group, who did nothing but watch the hedgehogs bicker. The rabbit gulped and prayed that they wouldn't escalate into a fight; the Gizoid folded his arms. The rest of the group, except Big, rolled their eyes. They've seen this one too many times.

"What!? Are you nuts!?" Sonic yelled. "That is a stupid idea!"

"It wasn't mine," Shadow replied with his arms folded. "It was Big's."

"Huh?"

"You see, Big Blue," Rouge joined the interlocutors in their conversation. "Big sees some potential in Synergy. He believes he's lost and that he could use someone to guide him down the right path."

"But he's a bad guy!" Sonic retorted. "He attacked me and Metal down at the tomb, he nearly destroyed Soleanna, and he kidnapped Big! What part of that screams, _'oh, darn! I'm so lost. I sure wish I had a best friend here to guide me.'_ "

"I know it seems farfetched," Shadow nodded. "But Big did bring up a good point… you and your friends were able to change Emerl and G-merl, so he thinks the same could be done for Synergy."

"Now, that's just ridiculous!"

"It sounds like it, but Shadow's got a point," Tails said, stroking his chin. "We were able to give Emerl a heart and we turned G-merl from a bland, mindless, Eggman Badnik to what he is now." He pointed at the Gizoid, who gave him a thumbs up. "I know Synergy's done some stuff and I'm not saying he shouldn't suffer any consequences for it. But maybe… he does have the potential to be good."

"I may not have been around to witness his attacks, but he doesn't look so threatening at the moment," Tangle pointed. "Perhaps he's one of those dark, broody, edgy characters who secretly has a heart down underneath."

" _Doubtful,"_ Whisper shook her head. _"I've seen him in Soleanna. He has the ability to turn into a monster and destroy everything he touches."_ She glared at the black hedgehog. _"I agree with Sonic. We can't trust him. He's too much of a loose cannon."_

"Come on, guys," Big frowned. "I think you guys are being a bit too hard on him. He saved me from Dr. Eggman in the Casino Forest."

" _What was Eggman doing there?"_ Whisper questioned the cat.

"He was looking for Synergy, saying he wanted to capture him and make him his slave," Big answered. "Now, even though he lied to me, I saved Synergy and we battled Eggman's robot together. He looked out for me."

" _How do we know he's not making you say that?"_

"Whisper's right," Sonic pointed to the wolf, approaching her. "Big, I know you like to see the good in people. It's something I admire about you, but you gotta understand, not everybody is born to be the good guy. Some people are born as grade A jerk heads."

"Kinda like yourself?" A strange, familiar cackle caught the Resistance off guard. _**(1)**_

Synergy, who was looking into the stars by the windmills, turned around once he heard the voice. He stood still, staring.

Upon seeing the man, the Resistance, except Tangle, readied their weapons and placed their bodies into battle positions. The ring-tailed lemur rubbed her head, confused.

She and the others were in front of Nack the Weasel, Bean the Dynamite Duck, and Bark the Polar Bear: The Hooligans!

"Hey! It's the wannabe superhero team!" Bean laughed. "Where's your leader, Chuckles? I wanna make fun of the toy bricks on his shoes."

"Wouldn't you boys like to know?" Rouge grinned.

"Who're these guys?" Tangle asked gently to the biscotti wolf.

" _Bounty hunters."_

"We've tussled with them in the past," Mighty replied. "Trust me, Tangle, they're bad news."

"I d-d-don't like t-t-t-these guys," Ray gulped. "They always steal from p-p-people."

"Nice to know my reputation's known amongst some of ya," Nack smiled. "I didn't realize I was so popular."

Sonic smirked, cracked his fingers, and walked to the trio. "Well, well, well, if it isn't the Hooligans. Haven't seen you jokers in a long time. What brings you here on a peaceful night? Trying to pay off your bills again?"

"Nothing that concerns _you_ , Mate," the weasel pressed his popgun against the hedgehog's chest. "We're just here to collect a bounty. There's a heavy hit on a certain robot and a fat cat. And rumor is that your friends with the latter… and lookie what we have here, boys. The fat loaf himself is right there," Nack waved at Big and chuckled. "But where's the robot? He can't be far, can he?"

"Wanna get to Big, you gotta go through me," G-merl snarled.

"You certainly look like the robot we're after, but it ain't you," Nack shook his head, adjusting his hat. "He's green and blue and he was created by an ancient race of echidnas."

It was at that moment where the dictator wannabe himself arrived. "You speak of my people?"

"There he is!" Bean pointed, jumping up and down in excitement. "Let's get him!"

Nack placed a hand against the duck's chest. "Hold on there, Bean," he contained the duck's excitement and locked eyes with the blue Gizoid. "So, you're the Gizoid that's been running amuck. Me and the boys have heard so much about you. G.U.N.'s declared you as number one most wanted, so obviously, you have a bit of a reputation… and it also means the reward for you is pretty high. Let's make a deal, shall we? You come with me and the Hooligans the easy way, where there doesn't have to be a fight or… we can do this the hard way which involves… well, I think you know what it involves. Which will it be?"

Before Synergy could say a word, Cream and Cheese stood in front of them with their hands held out. They looked like a fence.

"We're not gonna let you touch him!" Cream scowled with a stern tone.

"Chao, Chao!" Cheese nodded in agreement.

Synergy was surprised to see this. G-merl was right about her, she does have a heart of gold.

"He may be dangerous, but he's staying with us," Mighty pressed his knuckles together. "Now, back off before I forget I'm a pacifist."

"So, that's how you want to play it, eh?" Nack sneered. Twirling his popgun, he watched as Bean and Bark stood together in a battle position. " _Fine. By. Me._ "

"Good luck with that, Nackie," Sonic chuckled. "There's nineteen of us and only three of you. If you ask me, I'd say your outnumbered."

Nack laughed. "Did you seriously think I didn't plan for this?"

Upon placing his fingers against his lips, a loud whistle echoed across the land. The weasel continued cackling, as he aimed his weapon at the Resistance. All of them were confused until they heard a sudden whoosh from the sky.

Three neon lights shot across the sky, leaving behind green, purple, and dark yellow streaks. Shadowy figures flew on top of the lights from a distance.

As they flew closer, Tails squinted his eyes and gasped; he knew who they were.

Once the figures approached, they revealed themselves as legendary rivals of Sonic and his friends.

"The Babylon Rogues!?" Amy gasped.

Jet the Hawk: The Leader, stood on top of his Extreme Gear and grinned heavily. "Sonic the Hedgehog. I never would have suspected you to be one hiding criminals. Won't that go against your _'way past cool'_ reputation?" he laughed.

"Long no time, no see, Shorty," Wave the Swallow: The Tech Expert stroked her beak. "Didn't think we'd meet like this. Once Nack told us about the bounty, I somehow knew you'd be involved in this."

"Hey, where's that red mutt?" Storm the Albatross: The Muscle inquired. He rubbed the top of his head. "I've been wanting to give him a good pounding!"

"Commander Knuckles isn't here, right now," Tangle replied with a smile. "Please, leave a message after the beep… _beep_."

"Oh, uh… okay then," Storm nodded. "Uh, tell Knuckles that this is Storm the Albatross, and that I would like to-"

Jet slapped the back of his cohort's head.

"Ow! That hurt!"

"Bringing in the Babylon Rogues ain't gonna help your case, Nack," Sonic folded his arms.

"Then, maybe _they_ will," the weasel rubbed his hands and pointed to the tower beside the heroes.

Six shadows sat on the rooftop, yellow eyes flashed in the moonlight and growls mumbled under their breaths. At the same time, they leaped off the rooftop and smashed their feet against the grass. Shaking the ground, the Resistance nearly toppled over. Their eyes locked with the black pupils of the monsters.

The Deadly Six: Zavok, Zavok, Zazz, Zeena, Zomom, Zor, and Master Zik, stood their ground.

Amy glared at her crush. "You need to learn to keep your mouth shut sometimes."

"The Deadly Six are back and ready to rumble!" Zazz waved his arms like a psycho, laughing and spitting everywhere. "Let's stop yappin' and start smackin'!"

"To be clear, Hooligans," Zavok huffed. "My family may be here for the money, but _I_ am here for a rematch. You're quite a worthy foe, Sonic the Hedgehog, but because you won before doesn't mean you can win again. This time, I am more stronger; therefore, I shall vanquish you and your allies!"

"I need to make a few bucks," Zeena said. "My phone bill is overdue."

"Didn't we ask you to pay those last week?" Master Zik inquired.

"Yeah, but I didn't feel like it."

"Speaking of which, I don't feel like doing this. Money can't make someone happy," Zor moaned. "It's just a piece of paper meant to be wasted."

"But money buys food and food makes you happy, doesn't it?" Zomom commented. "Mmm, with the Mobiums we get from turning over Synergy, I can buy a million sandwiches."

Synergy was more confused than hostile like the Resistance was. He had never seen any of these people before, yet he somehow knew they raised a thousand red flags. He cracked his fingers and extended his Chaos claws.

He was ready for a fight. _**(1s)**_

"You want me?" he taunted the enemies. "…come and get me!" _**(2)**_

An act of impulse suddenly commenced, as Synergy was the one to throw the first punch. Wrapping two claws around Zomom's body, he punched, slammed, and chucked the Zeti from all directions. He then lunged himself forward and pressed his feet against the monster's fatty stomach.

G-merl rolled his eyes. Why did Synergy have to do that?

This all could have been avoided through a peaceful talk, but nope, Synergy just had to lash out.

Still, G-merl saw this coming. He knew that after a few moments of peace, a bit of darkness had to break it up. He got down into a battle position, scooped Cream off her feet, fired a missile at Bark, and flew away from the field, where he hoped to get Cream somewhere safe.

The rest of the Resistance jumped into battle and so did the villains.

Sonic rolled into a ball and homed in on Bean, moving as fast as the light. But miraculously, the duck front flipped over the hedgehog and whipped out a bunch of bombs from behind. One by one, he tossed them in the air and watched them fly towards the heroes. Amy, Tangle, Tails, Blaze, and Silver jumped out of the line of fire, avoiding the bombs. Watching them explode as they hit the ground, Whisper the Wolf got down on her knees and shot at giant pink spike at the other bombs. A ray of orange explosions blanketed the sky.

"Bombs, bombs, everywhere! Bombs, bombs, here and there!" the green duck sang, as he continued sprinkling the explosive spheres as if he was handing out free candy. "Bombs, bombs, everywhere! Ayyyyyyyyyyy! Here come the bombs!"

Tails rolled underneath one of the explosions and smacked a bomb with his twin tails. He watched it fly back towards its master, as it exploded and sent him flying.

"Tell my storrrrrrryyyyyy!" the duck squealed as he glided through the night, leaving a trail of smoke behind.

Below him, Team Dark dealt with the Babylon Rogues.

Jet, with his Bashosen, swung at the black hedgehog and missed. He did it again and met the same result. Grunting, he swerved his hoverboard around and dashed towards Shadow, who teleported out of the way and appeared right behind the bird, kicking him in the back of the head.

"It's gonna take more than a loser who can teleport to shock me!" Jet scoffed, as he moved around an axis and boosted forward, making heavy eye contact with the G.U.N. agent.

"Okay," Shadow stood up and grinned slightly. Folding his arms out, he summoned a golden spear before him. "Chaos Spear!"

One lucky shot caused Jet to trip over his gear and tumble across the dirt. His weapon flew into the air and was caught by Shadow, who grabbed it and pulled his arm back. He created a tornado that carried Jet off his feet.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" the hawk screamed as he was pushed off the ground and chucked to the side. He landed on the ground again, but quickly recovered, grabbing his Extreme Gear. "Not bad! But you ain't gonna be a legendary wind master!"

"Show me what you got then!" Shadow cracked his fingers.

He and Jet resumed their quarrel.

Mighty clashed fists with Zavok and took a heavy kick to the chest.

The armadillo curled into a ball and rammed into the Zeti's chest like a raging bull. He untucked and fired an uppercut against his chin. This was followed by three jabs, two right-hand punches, and two left hook punches. Mighty snarled, as he ducked beneath Zavok's fist. Sliding underneath the red monster, Mighty jabbed his side three times right before the Zeti final countered his attack.

Grabbing Mighty by the wrist, Zavok slammed his knee against his chest, swung him around, and slammed him against the ground.

"You fight well, armadillo, but I can tell you're holding back. I despise fighters who don't express their full potential," Zavok taunted the Freedom Fighter. "Come on, attack me with brute force! I know you want to!"

Mighty grabbed Zavok by the horns and flipped him over.

"How's _that_ for my full potential!?" the armadillo smirked.

His best friend, Ray, glided over him with Zeena and Zor on his tail.

Turning around, Ray gasped and flew faster. Blood pumping, heart pounding, and his mind scattering.

Fortunately, Ray was able to duck down in time for Omega to pop out of nowhere, grab both monsters, and toss them over his shoulders. Loading two missiles out of his cannons, he took fire at the monsters and watched as they evaded his attacks. The green-haired Zeti summoned a wrecking ball out of green energy and deflected the unlimited arsenal coming from the robot. Rouge swooped downward and kicked Zeena from the side of her head.

Above her, G-merl and Cream were chased by Storm and Wave.

Rouge laughed, as she dodged Zeena's attacks. She landed two kicks.

Zeena grabbed the bat by her wings and smacked her in the face with her energy cords.

Sonic sped around the arena and homing attacked Zor, Zeena, Zavok, Zomom, and Bean. Unfortunately, he was caught by Bark and punched out of his ball form. Sonic tumbled backward before landing on his feet, as he rushed towards Bark and avoided a punch.

Vector came in from behind and grabbed Bark's hands, holding him back with all of his might. Sonic jumped on top of Bark's head and grabbed onto Storm's Extreme Gear, where he was flying after G-merl and Cream. Climbing on the top, Sonic jumped on Storm's back and wrapped his hands over his eyes.

"Hey! Who turned out the lights!?" the albatross panicked, waving his arms around like a maniac.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please keep all hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times," Sonic quipped. "Thank you for flying Air Sonic and we'll be arriving at your destination shortly!"

G-merl's back compartments opened up and four, long-ranged missiles sped towards the swallow.

"Geez!" Wave gasped. She turned upward and ran away from the missiles, which gave chase. Her feathers popped out of her skin and her veins were popping out of her arms. She felt a pool of sweat pour down her forehead. Blood pumping, heart pounding, and hands shaking.

Sonic jumped off Storm's head, kicked him in the face, and free fell down to the ground. G-merl and Cream rolled across the ground and joined Sonic throughout the fight. Together, they helped their friends thwart their enemies.

Pop. Pop. Pop went Nack's gun. He was in the middle of a fight against Espio and Charmy. Tangle, Synergy, and Whisper were fighting Zazz and Zik right behind them. The weasel bounced towards his bike, the Marvelous Queen, and shot small corks at the ones who opposed him.

"I ain't goin' down by the likes of you, Mates!" the Jerboa-Wolf howled. He watched as Espio deflected all of the corks with his Kunai. Charmy fist bumped the chameleon before he landed behind the purple mercenary, stinging him in his rear end. " _YEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!_ "

The weasel shot like a rocket, feeling the pain of Charmy's stinger run through his rear.

The bee snickered and pointed at the weasel, as he and Espio helped the others with the fight.

They regrouped with Tangle, Synergy, and Whisper.

"So much for a peaceful talk," Tangle said. She wrapped her tail around Zazz and flipped him on his side.

" _This could have been avoided if you didn't lash out, Synergy,"_ Whisper commented. She fired a laser at Zik, who blocked it with his cane.

"Don't you realize we're trying to protect you?" Charmy inquired. He punched Zazz without looking at him.

"I appreciate your help, but I don't need it!" Synergy replied, blocking Zik's attacks. "My goal is to get back to the Mystic Ruins and find the Nocturnus Clan!"

"They're all trapped in another dimension!" Espio retorted.

"I refuse to believe that!"

"Holy smokes!" Tangle shrugged. "This guy's as stubborn as Shadow."

"I heard that!" Shadow snarled, grabbing Jet by the feathers and punching him. _**(2s)**_

* * *

"Come on, Gadget… you can do this… you can find out where this guy comes from."

Gadget the Wolf sat in his laboratory in Resistance HQ. He spent many hours of his day experimenting on the Emerl model Team Chaotix found in the Mystic Jungle. Doing nothing but searching for a possible source of this robot, Gadget yawned and rubbed his eyes. He hasn't stepped out of his lair since his commander tasked him with modifying the robot earlier. Now, the commander never said anything about focusing on nothing but the robot, but if someone knew one thing about Gadget, he liked to get things done as quick as possible.

He was a hard worker, one of the smartest members of the Resistance.

Performing tasks like invading the Arsenal Pyramid, taking part in the raid on the Mystic Jungle, and even fighting in the climax at the Eggman Empire Fortress. He was one of the rookies who helped modify the Wispons when Tails went solo and he helped translate the Wisps' ancient language.

Some say that he's like a clone of Tails whereas others say he's also a nerd like Tails.

But if some of his friends had to point out one flaw about Gadget, besides putting too much thought into one thing, it's that he tends to stress himself easily. In other words, he has high expectations for himself and gets depressed when he doesn't meet them.

This was proven when he stared deep into the robot's internals. He took off the chest plate and messed around with the circuits. He was hoping to trace back this robot's master and possibly find his base of operations.

But despite the amount of research he put into his investigation, he found nothing.

No traces, no signals, no signs that the Gizoid may be operational.

Nothing.

He was getting annoyed.

"You gotta be kidding me," he groaned, removing his black glasses and rubbing his orange eyes. "How long does it take to find out your mysteries?"

Slamming his fist against the table, Gadget took a deep breath and gazed into the broken robot's eyes. He huffed again before he shook his head. "Commander Knuckles tasked me with finding out more about you and I can't let him down! I know for a fact that you have some connection to Eggman's whereabouts, and I won't stop until I figure it out. You hear me, you piece of scrap!? I'm not giving up! Not yet!... _ugh_ , just look at yourself, Gadget. You're yelling at an object as if it's gonna listen to you. That's how crazy you are."

Someone then wrapped their arms around the wolf's body, embracing him with a hug.

At first, the wolf got startled, but as he turned around, he was relieved to see it was his girlfriend, Fuchsia the Cat.

"Hey, it's getting late," Fuchsia said before she giggled. "Obviously, you need some sleep. You look like you could go shopping with those bags under your eyes."

"Ha-ha," Gadget rolled his eyes sarcastically. "You're hilarious."

Upon kissing his cheek, the cat wrapped her fingers around the wolf's hands. "Come to bed, you've been working on this thing all day."

"I have to keep working, Fuchsia," Gadget replied. "Otherwise, we'll never find out Eggman's plan. Commander Knuckles told me there's an evil Gizoid out there who has Big the Cat as a hostage and is wanted by both G.U.N. and the Eggman Empire. I have a strong suspicion that this Emerl clone has something to do with what Eggman's up to… think about it, this guy was abandoned in one of Eggman's facilities from the War. And since Eggman has been after Synergy, that means he has some plan that involves Gizoids."

Fuchsia released her boyfriend's hands. "That is a pretty strong theory you got there, honey, but… all good scientists like yourself need sleep. It's what Tails kept telling us."

Gadget sighed. "Yeah… you're right… but I'm upset that I can't figure out what's going on with this drone."

"Sometimes, when you're working on a project, it's best to just step away from it for a while. It helps clear your mind and gets you focused. Sticking to the project like glue all day is just going to make you crazy."

"Makes me crazy?" Gadget inquired. He turned to the motionless Gizoid. "Can you believe that?"

Fuchsia raised an eyebrow.

The wolf finally gave in. "Fine… I guess you're right. I'll take a break and come to bed."

A smile painted across the cat's face. She reached up, kissed Gadget's cheeks again, and walked towards the door; the wolf followed.

Upon exiting, they were greeted by Corvin the Bird.

"Any luck with that thingy?" the bird asked with folded arms.

"Nothing yet," Gadget replied. "I'm gonna work on more of it in the morning."

"Y'know, when all of this Synergy craze is over, I really think we can turn that robot into a pawn shop."

"For the love of Chaos, Corvin, we're not gonna get money from this thing!" Fuchsia facepalmed. "Besides, you already made that joke today."

"But I'm serious! We can buy all sorts of cool stuff! I could buy a surfboard, Gadget could buy more stuff for his lab, and Fuchsia… well, you can always get yourself another ball of yarn."

"Watch your beak, Birdy!"

"Sorry."

As the three rookies went off to sleep…

They were unaware that the Emerl clone's eyes started glowing red.

* * *

"A little to the left… no, no, a little to the right… on second thought, to the left again." Dr. Eggman commanded Rough and Tumble. The two skunks carried a box of supplies from one of the warehouses leftover from the War. And they were tired of listening to their new master's orders.

Both skunks placed the box where they were told.

"Hmm… move two inches to the right."

"Come on, man!" Tumble grunted. He and his brother did what they were told. "There… is that better?"

"Much better… if it were moved to the right."

Moaning like babies, the skunk brothers moved the box in that direction. Dr. Starline approached the doctor with a concerned look on his face.

"Doctor," the platypus gulped. "I bring you urgent news… Neo Metal Sonic is-"

"Destroyed," Dr. Eggman cut him off. "I'm aware."

"Then you know what Team Dark not only has Synergy, but they have all the Chaos Emeralds I collected! No doubt they've regrouped with the Resistance at this point!"

"I know."

"They're going to use them to thwart our plans!"

" _I know._ "

"Why are you so calm about this!? You should be screaming your head off in pure anger! We should be thinking of a backup plan to get Project: Synergy on our side!"

"Need I remind you that _I'm_ the one in charge here and I say that I _do_ have a plan to get Synergy and G-merl on our side. I just need some time to make some preparations. Besides, even with the Chaos Emeralds in the hands of Sonic and his band of dullards, we still have enough power to take them down."

"How so?"

"Orbot, Cubot, open the crates!"

Both lackeys grabbed their crowbars and peeled open the boxes like bananas. Upon watching the door tip over, both doctors took a look at what was inside. The skunk brothers did the same thing. Sitting inside the crate were nothing but E-121 Phis: silver-colored Gizoids that were used to apprehend Emerl during the Emerl Incident. But the silver clones weren't the only ones inside. Sitting next to them were golden Gizoids that looked exactly alike, only they had bronze eyes.

Starline adjusted his glasses and dropped his beak. "You had more of these in your bases? Incredible!... although, I don't recognize the gold ones."

"Those are E-120 Chis. They're a little more durable than the Chis."

"Didn't we use these things to track down G-merl before in that village?" asked Tumble.

"Yeah, they all got destroyed!" Rough added.

"Not all of them," Dr. Eggman responded. "Just some of them."

"Doctor, I don't understand," Dr. Starline. "You're not one to reuse old plans."

"Except every Egg Nega Wisp recolor ever," Orbot pointed.

"What do you plan to do with these Gizoids. They've failed to capture G-merl the first time, so what makes you think they won't fail again?"

"Because they'll have a little upgrade," Dr. Eggman snapped his fingers.

Hearing the snap, Cubot ran into the next room before rushing back out. In his hand was a silver tray with four tubes on them. They were red, silver, green, and blue. He kindly handed the tray to his boss, as the doctor took the red tube. He then signaled Rough and Tumble to bring one of the Gizoids over, so the skunk brothers brought the E-120 Chi. They carried it over to a large testing tube, one that was bigger than the ones in the Mystic Jungle's lab, and placed it inside.

As soon as they closed the door, the golden robot's bronze eyes lit up and the fingers started twitching.

It was fully operational.

Dr. Starline rubbed his head, confused before he watched Dr. Eggman press a button on his control console. Two blue, translucent wires came out of the tube's walls and attached themselves to the drone's arms. Said robot looked down at both wires before his eyes reached back to his boss. Rough and Tumble shared a glance before they shrugged shoulders. Their curiosity increased further when they watched Dr. Eggman inject the red liquid inside of the console.

Red ooze flowed like a lake into the Gizoid's arms.

Nothing happened at first until Starline saw something he didn't think he'd see; the gold Gizoid started to change colors.

All of its gold parts became a maroon orange while the bronze bits were an auburn red. But color changing wasn't the only thing that occurred…

The Gizoid started shaking.

Rattling rapidly, the Gizoid ripped the wires off his arms and shot a ray of fire around its body.

Rough, Tumble, and Starline gasped in amazement.

The robot jumped into the air, forming a ring of fire as it ascended higher in the tube. Upon landing on the ground, it shot more fireballs at the indestructible glass before it curled into a Sonic style spin dash and boosted around in a circle. A wave of fire ignited as the Gizoid's speed quickly increased.

Dr. Eggman grinned and placed his hands behind his back. He couldn't believe he was able to perform this test flawlessly… or so he thought.

When the Gizoid landed on the ground, it was about to perform another trick when suddenly…

It exploded.

Shards of metal impacted the screen and fell onto the floor, as a cloud of smoke and fire covered the entire tube, blocking everyone's line of vision. It didn't take long for the smoke to clear and all that was left was nothing. Dr. Eggman grunted, as he turned away from the chamber, unlike Dr. Starline, who was amazed and wanted to know more.

"What in the holy Chaos was that!?" the platypus inquired with excitement.

"That was a new elemental compound I created before the War started. It was meant to upgrade my robots with elemental powers. Kind of generic, I know, but it was the best I can think of."

"Generic? You call what happened in _there_ generic!? I call that _genius!_ "

"Stop sucking up."

Starline frowned.

"Anyways, while I was coming home from my encounter with Synergy and the cat, I thought of using this compound on the Gizoids after seeing Synergy's Chaos abilities in action… but the only problem is, the E-120 Chis, nor the E-121 Phis are meant to house this kind of power. Not yet at least. The compound still needs to be tested."

"Surely, one of these Gizoids needs to know how to harness this power. What if you created a Gizoid that can hold all of these compounds at once?"

"Say, that's not a bad idea… there is actually _one_ Gizoid that may be strong enough to store these powers… but unfortunately, it is gone."

"Gone?"

Dr. Eggman walked over to another computer and uploaded a live recording of the security cameras in the Mystic Jungle's abandoned lab. "You see, there was an Emerl clone I made in here a while ago. It was meant to be used during the War to scare the Resistance. I thought having them fight their former friend would intimidate them, but because of how attached to the Phantom Ruby I was, this clone was never properly finished. I was going to send Rough and Tumble after it, but after looking through security footage, I've concluded that someone stole it."

"Who in their right mind would steal a Gizoid?"

"I'm not sure."

Cubot tugged on both doctors' coats. "Um… Doctors?"

"What is it, Cubot?" Dr. Eggman scowled.

"What's the little red dot mean?"

The two doctors looked at the right corner of the screen and noticed a signal coming from Green Hill City. Dr. Eggman typed on the computer and loaded up a file that read, _"Project: Emerl Requesting Assistance_."

"It's a distress signal," Starline commented.

"And I know exactly who sent it," Dr. Eggman smiled slowly, as he rubbed his fingers together and cackled. _**(3)**_

* * *

"You get a bomb and you get a bomb! Everybody gets a bomb!" Bean smiled, as he chucked more bombs at the Resistance.

Blaze and Whisper stood side by side and shot their own projectiles at the explosives. A thousand clouds of smoke blanketed the sky, as the wolf looked down at the duck, who was running around like a maniac. With her Variable Wispon morphing into Cube mode, she slammed her hammer against the ground, causing the green duck to lose his balance.

"Whoa, whoa! Earthquake!" Bean panicked. "Please, don't let me fall into the center of Mobius! I'm too pretty to die!"

Blaze flew up to the duck and punched him across the beak, knocking him down.

" _Urgh_ … do I still look pretty?"

Sonic and Synergy homed in on the Babylon Rogues and spun attacked each of them. They soon formed a blue tornado around Storm and watched him blast off into the air. Synergy grabbed the albatross by his legs and chucked him over to Sonic. To which, the hedgehog delivered a volley kick that sent the albatross crashing into Bark the Polar Bear. Sonic and Synergy ran beside each other, taking out more of their enemies and helping out the Resistance.

"Not bad for a Gizoid who copies everyone," Sonic quipped.

"You're not so bad yourself," Synergy replied.

Both fighters curled into balls again and crashed right into Bark's stomach.

Synergy dodged the polar bear's punch, as Sonic kicked him across the jaw. Synergy transformed his hands into Drill Claws and slammed both of them on top of Bark's head.

"You got some potential, Synergy," Sonic said again, avoiding Bark's attack. "Why waste your time trying to be somebody you're not?"

"What do you mean?" the Gizoid evaded Bark's kick.

"You're trying to be like Imperator Ix, when really, you're more than capable of being your own person. Big told me you two did a lot when you were in Soleanna. From the way he described it, it seems that you had a lot of fun. Why would you neglect all of that so you can focus on being some supreme ruler of the land?"

"Because Imperator Ix expects the best of me. I cannot let him down."

"But isn't there more to life than just being some noble subject?"

Synergy punched Bark in the face before looking at Sonic. He didn't say a word.

He remembered being asked a similar question by Big. He was also told that he has the potential to be more than just a king. Stroking the lower part of his face, he started to wonder if what Sonic and Big are saying is true. But his thoughts were suddenly shifted to something else.

"Look out!" he warned, as he pushed Sonic out of the way and took a heavy hit from Zavok. Tumbling across the ground, he landed on his rear. Beside him, Team Chaotix, Tails, Tangle, and Amy were fighting the rest of the Zeti and Babylon Rogues.

"Synergy!" Sonic shouted, as he ducked below Zavok's punch and kicked him in the chest. "Glad to be fighting the real you, Zavok. Last time I saw you, you were some mindless clone on the Death Egg."

"Dr. Eggman was foolish to make a clone of me!" Zavok fired a punch, but Sonic jumped over it. "He will pay for making me look like a fool!"

Mighty grabbed a boulder and slammed it on Zavok's head. It cracked into pieces when he did so.

Ray dropped down, bounced off the Zeti's head, and watched as Sonic and Mighty sent him flying to the other side of the battlefield.

Just as the three were about to plan out their next move, they heard something pop behind them. Turning around, they saw multiple corks from Nack's popgun firing towards them. Sonic moved to the right whereas Mighty curled into his shell, letting the bullets bounce off of him. Ray gasped before he glided towards the weasel. Stretching his tail out, he grabbed the gun out of the weasel's hand.

"I'll t-take that," Ray smiled.

"Hey!" Nack ranted. "Come back here!"

Sonic and Mighty started running towards him. Their faces both smirking.

"Wait, wait! Hold on a minute, Mates! _Gah!_ "

Tackling the weasel to the ground, both the hedgehog and the armadillo spun the bandit around before they finally caught him. The latter held him up by the tail.

"Gotcha now, you greedy wolf!" Mighty snarled.

"Nonsense!" Nack shook his fists in anger. "I ain't leavin' without that Gizoid! He's worth a fortune!"

"You really think the Babylon Rogues and the Deadly Six are gonna split the money with you?" Sonic quipped. "Knowing them, they'll just take it and run."

"Ha! You really thought I was actually gonna pay those jokers? I just brought them here for the extra muscle?" _**(3s)**_

Suddenly, the chaos came to a halt.

The Resistance, Deadly Six, and Babylon Rogues looked at the Hooligans. Both villain teams gave the thieves a steady glare while the heroes were confused. They all regrouped and exchanged awkward glances.

Nack gulped. Bean smirked. And Bark facepalmed.

"Wait a minute!" Jet squawked. "You weren't going to pay us!?"

"I told you he was up to something," Wave ranted, pointing at Jet. "But did you listen to me!? No! You were all about that sweet, sweet fortune, weren't you!?"

"Aww, no money for food?" Zomom inquired.

"Such a waste of time," Master Zik shook his head.

"Who cares about Nack, Boss?" Storm asked. "Can't we just take Synergy for ourselves and turn him over."

"And look like heroes?" Jet inquired. "No thanks. We're not heroes, we're not villains, we're a band of thieves who just wanted some dough. Now, we look violent and incompetent."

"Master Zik is right," Zavok nodded in agreement. "This has been a waste of time. Come on, everyone. Let's leave these buffoons to be punished by the Resistance."

"Wait, hold on, guys!" Bean called out, as he watched the rest of the villains leave. "Come back! We were gonna roast wieners and share milk once this was over! I wanted to tell you all ghost stories by the campfire, then we could get together at my house and watch soap operas! I wanted to see if Antoine broke up with Bunnie! Come back!"

The Babylon Rogues and Deadly Six sat down by a campfire. Marine the Raccoon sat there as well, roasting marshmallows.

"Were you guys brought in for cameos too?" Marine inquired.

"Yep," everyone replied. They all took a marshmallow and placed it on their sticks.

The Hooligans watched as their team betrayed them before they glanced over their shoulders, watching the Resistance band together to take them down. The three bandits were haunted by a thousand eyes starring deep into their souls. They felt like they were about have their lives sucked out of them.

"Look, Mates," Nack gulped with a nervous grin. "We can work this out like civilized adults, right?"

Just as the Resistance came up with their response…

 _ **FLASH! (4)**_

A bunch of spotlights shined down on top of them.

Everyone covered their eyes and gasped, as the sound of motorized blades could be heard in the sky, approaching their location. Sonic and Tails looked upward and immediately felt their eyes shoot out of their sockets. Everyone else felt the exact same way, especially Tangle.

G.U.N. helicopters were flying above them.

One by one, soldiers climbed down the latter and aimed their weapons at the Resistance and the Hooligans. Multiple Beetle drones flew down from above and performed the same actions at the soldiers. The Resistance stood back with Big holding a hand over Synergy. The blue/green Gizoid was confused and a little frightened. He didn't expect an army like this to be surrounding him and his unlikely team. Team Hooligan tried to sneak off, but G.U.N. soldiers noticed them and stopped them, forcing them to step back. The weasel grabbed his hat and held it over his stomach. The duck hid behind the polar bear, shivering. Team Dark looked at each other with neutral expressions; they knew this was gonna happen.

Stepping out of the blue… was Commander Abraham Tower.

Pulling out a bull horn, he spoke, "Resistance, we know you've been housing two wanted enemies of the state! Surrender them now or you will suffer the consequences!"

"Hold on a second," Amy said, letting her hands out calmly. "Let's talk about this."

"Big the Cat and Project: Synergy!" the commander shouted again. "For terrorist attacks against the Kingdom of Soleanna, you are both under arrest. Come quietly or we will use force!"

"I can't go back to jail!" Bean shouted in utter fear.

"Shadow, Rouge, Omega, talk to them!" Tails exclaimed.

But all Team Dark was step outside the circle. Standing by their commander, they all turned to their allies.

"What's going on here?" Tangle asked.

" _They called them."_ Whisper replied.

"Shadow, I thought you wanted to help us change Synergy," Big said. "I know he needs to go to jail for his actions, but I want to give him a chance to change first. I thought you wanted that too."

"What's going on?" Synergy inquired.

"I'm not saying Synergy doesn't have the potential to change his personality," Shadow shook his head. "However, I promised the Resistance that I'd prove _you_ innocent. I never said anything about clearing Synergy's name. He's dragged you into this, manipulated you, and attacked Soleanna. As far as I'm concerned… there's nothing innocent about him."

Synergy clenched his fists when he heard that. But G-merl stooped him from lashing out. Cream gave both Gizoids a nervous look before she hugged her robotic brother. Cheese curled beside his best friend.

"Shadow, seriously?" Sonic retorted. "You lied to Big!?"

"I didn't lie," Shadow replied, folding his arms. "I had to buy G.U.N. some time to get here."

"It's nothing personal, guys," Rouge added. "Again, we're not saying this Gizoid can't become a different person, but he needs to pay for his actions. So, please, we humbly ask you… hand him over."

"DO NOT MAKE US USE LETHAL FORCE," Omega raised his hand, aiming a missile at his friends.

Amy didn't know what to do.

Knuckles left her in charge of the Resistance because he knew that she always had a plan up her sleeve. As of now, she didn't have a plan. Her heart was pounding and sweat poured from her forehead like a waterfall. She rubbed her palms and felt her knees buckle. Sonic looked at her and sensed the agitation coming from her. His face dropped and his fists clenched; he had to do something to help her, but he needed to act fast.

Looking beside him, he noticed that Tails was holding onto the suitcase that contained all seven Chaos Emeralds. The fox held them with an iron grip.

Sonic glanced back at Team Dark and the soldiers before turning his eyes back at his team. He locked eyes with G-merl, Synergy, and Cream, and gave them a nod. G-merl, aware that Sonic had a plan, returned the gesture and held onto Cream. He then wrapped his other hand around Synergy's wrist. Silver and Blaze noticed this.

Cracking his fingers, Sonic suddenly shouted. "Everybody, hang on!"

Without hesitation, everybody grabbed each other's wrist, as Sonic grabbed the Chaos Emerald case.

"Chaos…"

Commander Tower pointed. " _FIRE!_ "

Shadow shouted in retort. _"_ _ **WAIT!**_ " _**(4s)**_

A gun fired and there was a flash of light.

 _ **END OF CHAPTER 24**_

* * *

 _Welp, things have certainly gone down hill again. Team Dark turned against their team and tried to sell them off to G.U.N., but can you really blame them? Like Mighty said, they're just doing their job. Originally, they were going to stick around with the Resistance, but I didn't think they would betray their organization to do that. Shadow does sympathize with Big and Sonic; however, he promised them that he'd help Big clear his name, he never said anything about helping Synergy. Still, Team Dark has left the Resistance, leaving Sonic to take drastic measures._

 _Where will the team end up? Did they end up somewhere safe or will they get arrested by the government? Find out as we see what everyone's favorite echidna is up to in..._

 _"Chapter 25: I Just Want to Talk"_

* * *

 ** _POST-A/N:_**

 _I know I said in Chapter 15 that Tangle was going to be the last IDW character to appear in this story... well, she is in terms of characters with main roles. Since IDW has made a few characters (Both Canon and IDW) appear in the comics, I wanted to give them little minor roles in here. The Babylon Rogues appeared in the IDW Sonic Annual 2019 whereas the Deadly Six appeared in Issue #20. Well, they were in a flashback panel but it's hinted they're gonna appear soon. I am going to have another IDW character appear in here, but she won't take up much of the spotlight. But for those of you who want Mimic from Tangle and Whisper Issue #2 in here. Sorry, but I don't wanna shoehorn him into the plot. This is a story about finding who you really are, not Whisper finding out Mimic killed her friends. But we will see some backstory behind Whisper soon._

 _The Elemental Gizoid is something I thought of when drafting out the rest of the story on Google Docs. I know it seems a little cliché and a bit unoriginal, but it's the best I can do. Figured it would be a unique way of utilizing the Emerl clone from Chapter 22._

 _Thanks again for taking the time to read this chapter. Don't forget to R &R but no flames. Constructive criticism is fine, but if you're gonna leave flames, you might as well go read something else. I'm The Sensational SpiderDom321 and I'll see you all next time! Peace out, web-heads!_

 _~SD321 (SpiderDom321)_


	25. I Just Want to Talk

_**A/N:** Hey, guys. SD321 here... Now normally, I'd start off with something positive like thanks for all the views, reviews, and all of those who favorited and followed this story, but today... I want to start off with something a little different... So a few days ago, after I got home from school, I found out that my step-great grandmother passed away. She has been in the hospital for a while now and has been suffering from an illness for a while now. A few times I've seen her, she was cracking jokes about me loading her in the back of my truck and driving her all the way to the nearest Dunkin' Donuts. Believe me, I was tempted to do that at times. But the last time I saw her... she was out of it. All of the humor and sarcasm she had drained out of her from being in the hospital for too long. My sisters and I knew that there would be a possibility that she wouldn't make it, which was something we agreed we had to prepare for... however, I didn't want that day to come so soon._

 _If anyone is concerned, it's okay. I'm fine, but I still mourn her death for now. Which is why I'm dedicating this special chapter of Awakened to her, as she always admired me for my wicked imagination. Great Grandma, may you rest in peace. Love you._

 ** _(1) Back in Time - Sonic R OST_**

 ** _(2) With Me - Sonic and the Black Knight OST_**

 ** _(3) Final Chase - Sonic Adventure 2 OST_**

 _Without further ado, enjoy the show!_

* * *

 **I Just Want to Talk**

 _~Knuckles' P.O.V_

If you were to walk up to me and say, _"Hey! You're the last echidna, aren't you?"_ I would reply, _"I think you're mistaken."_

While it is true that I am the last of my kind, the Knuckles Clan, I am not the last of my species. Turns out there is another echidna out there, one that I've been looking for since Dr. Eggman and Infinite took over the world.

Her name is Shade the Echidna.

In case you couldn't tell already, she and I have a history together. I consider her one of my closest friends, despite the fact we haven't seen each other for a long time. However, our friendship didn't start so pleasant the first time. When Sonic and Tails met, they automatically became friends. Heck, they're close like brothers. But the same can't be said for Shade and me.

It started a couple of years ago, where Tails and I were sitting in the middle of the forest. It was cold and breezy outside, a perfect morning to be out for a walk. But Tails and I weren't out to explore the area. Instead, we were setting a trap.

At the time, there was a crime wave where a band of thieves stole the Chaos Emeralds from our friends who were holding onto them. We weren't sure who they were, what they looked like, or why they wanted the emeralds in the first place. All we knew was that these guys were bad news, so I was more than determined to put them back in their place. Since everyone else was busy, Tails were the only ones who decided to catch the thieves the old-fashioned way…

Bait them out with a trap.

As I felt the wind brush against my fur, I looked down and saw Tails covering the trap with leaves. He set up four blue and yellow poles on the ground that were connected to a silver plate. On top of the plate was a glowing green Chaos Emerald, waiting to be "taken" by those burglars.

I smiled, as I leaned down at the emerald. Nodding my head, I observed my friend covering the rest of his trap with leaves.

But something was a little off about Tails; he wasn't as excited about this as I was.

I could tell by the look on his face that he had his doubts.

"Are you sure about this?" he asked me.

Of course, I was an idiot back then, so I responded with, "Of course I am! This is the only Chaos Emerald that's left so those guys have no other choice but to come here and grab it. When they do, we'll be ready!"

Tails finished the trap and walked towards the bushes; our hiding spot. I simply followed.

"How come we can't just hide the emerald?" he asked me again.

"Because I wanna see what these guys look like and teach them a lesson," I replied. "They have some nerve coming here and taking our stuff."

"Oh, of course." Tails said, shivering as he thought about the consequences of my plan.

Jumping behind the bushes, I sat down next to Tails and watched the emerald. At first, a moratorium occurred in the area when suddenly, I heard a swoosh and a whoosh coming from the trap. The rustling of the bushes made me think the wind was blowing until I saw something emerge from thin air…

Three vortexes.

Tails gasped, but I covered his mouth. Maybe these were the thieves we were looking for. If they were, then I didn't want Tails to blow our cover. If they weren't, then I _still_ didn't want Tails to blow our cover.

Thankfully, the former was my answer.

Three men in black and blue costumes teleported in front of the Chaos Emerald. Each of them glanced over and leaned down to grab it.

"Well, that didn't take long," I whispered.

"Knuckles, shush," Tails said to me just as he whipped out a small remote and pushed a green button.

Suddenly, I heard a clank and a vroom come from the poles. All of them folded upward at the same time and spikes shot out of their edges. One by one, they spat out pieces of a green force field that covered the trap from head to toe. The thieves turned around in surprise and jumped back, but all they did was hit the back of the electric fence.

They were trapped, we had them cornered.

"See? I told you this would work," I slapped both my fists together.

"Ha! It almost makes scrapping the Tornado for parts worth it," Tails smiled at me.

But suddenly… karma decided to bite us in our rears.

These guys must have seen this coming because they reached into their pockets, whipped out large, black blasters, and shot their way out of the force field. Two of them began to scope the forest in search of us while the other grabbed the Chaos Emerald. There was no way he was getting away with that thing.

"They're escaping!" Tails pleaded.

"No, they're not!" I retorted with a snarl. And it was at that moment I acted like my impulsive self and lunged at the thieves. I socked the one with the emerald across the jaw and pressed my knee against his chest. Just as he fell to the ground, the other two ran after me. I simply knocked them down with ease.

Tails jumped out of the bushes to help, but I ordered him to stay back. I knew he was capable of protecting himself, but there was no way I was gonna let them fight these guys. Even though he wanted to argue, he obeyed and stayed down.

The fight between me and these guys continued, as I jumped on top of the three soldiers and started beating them with my might. Left, right, up, down, I did everything to make sure these idiots felt my wrath.

But they had one last trick up their sleeve because more of them started coming.

"More of you? Keep em' coming!" I grunted. Some of the soldiers landed a few good shots on me with their blasters, but they weren't strong enough to take me down. I fought back by grabbing a large rock and chucking it at them. I watched five of them go down while six others jumped out of the way. Each of them ran up to me, but a few good punches and a roundhouse kick were all I needed.

Their bodies dropped to the floor like raindrops on a cloudy day.

"Is that all you got!?" I kept saying to them, but they wouldn't respond.

As I kept fighting, more soldiers came by and I took them down effortlessly. However, it didn't take long for that to change.

"Enough!" I heard someone shout from behind me. It was a female and she sounded angry. "I'll handle him."

Turning over my shoulder, I saw a girl in the exact same costume like the others. Only she had purple details on them rather than blue. Her mask resembled that of a goat, which made me curious about the species of these guys. But that thought didn't take up my mind, I wanted answers. So, I turned to her with my fists held high.

"Stand down or be put down," she warned me, as a hand slowly reached behind her back.

"Lady… you picked the wrong guy to steal from!" I shouted back at her, as I waved my fists like a maniac and charged quickly.

Just as I threw the first punch, the girl pressed her hands against the ground and pushed herself forward, leaping right over my head.

"Speed, strength, some skill," she told me in a low voice. I grunted at her and began throwing nothing but punches. But they didn't have any effect. Instead, she grabbed one of my hands, punched me in the gut, flipped me over, and kicked me into a boulder. "Impressive enough, but you're in our way."

"Tell me what you want with those emeralds!" I demanded. I got up again and did the same attacks, hoping they would work.

But this person was highly trained because she leaped over by punches again and kicked me right across the jaw. She then reached into her pocket, grabbed what looked to be a grenade, and smashed it against the grass.

Nothing but smoke covered my sight.

I searched high and low for the person, but I couldn't find her. She was fast, I'll give her that. But speed has its weaknesses. How do you think I'm able to beat Sonic sometimes?

But unfortunately, I was too slow to find her weakness, as she suddenly found mine. I felt the wind brush against me from behind, as I turned around and threw a punch. I managed to hit whatever was there in the stomach, but the figure reached out a hand and squeezed my arms aka… my pressure points.

Feeling pain run down my veins, I screamed in agony before the feeling came to an end.

And all it took… was one quick jab in the face.

"You were warned," the voice of the female said again. "Nothing personal."

I collapsed the ground with blurred vision. It felt like something sprayed me in the eyes with pepper spray, that's how bad my vision was. I gave out one last breath before there was a moment of silence and everything went dark.

But… somehow, I heard voices…. Muffled voices.

"Here's the Chaos Emerald, Procurator Shade," a male voice said.

"Good. Mission accomplished… bring him with us."

"Seriously? Wouldn't it be easier if we destroy him?"

"No. We're not needlessly ruthless… fall back, everyone, that's an order!"

"Yes, Procurator Shade!"

Within a matter of seconds, the last thing I heard was a whoosh.

* * *

 _~Knuckles' P.O.V. (Continued)_

The rest of the story can be summed along the lines of this.

Tails, Sonic, and the rest of their team dropped by the Mystic Ruins to rescue me, only to find out that I pretty much rescued myself. It was at that moment we discovered that Shade and her people invaded Angel Island, where they planned to steal the Master Emerald.

Reluctantly teaming up with Eggman, my friends and I made our way to Blue Ridge Zone. There was a secret passage to Metropolis there, which had battleships that could take us to Angel Island. During our escapade, we ran into Shade and a few Marauders again. But lucky for us, we managed to win the fight this time, but before we could get answers from Shade, she escaped and blocked off our path. But unbeknownst to her, Eggman informed us about a backup passage that got us to the city. That was also the day I found out that Shade was an echidna, just like me.

For the longest time, I thought I was the last echidna. My clan had been destroyed by Perfect Chaos many years ago, but I was wrong… there was another clan of echidnas out there, but unfortunately, they were evil, and they needed to be stopped.

Stealing a battleship from Metropolis, Sonic and I landed on Angel Island.

From there, we fought Shade again and discovered that she was working for someone by the name of Imperator Pir'Oth Ix: the ruler of the Nocturnus Clan and archenemy of my clan's leader, Chief Pachacamac. After we fought Shade, he was our next target. The first time we encountered him, he proved he was a force to be reckoned with. I could still feel a little pain in my ribcage from some of the punches he threw at me. It was pretty obvious where Shade got her skill from.

Fortunately, Tails and Eggman showed up with their team to help us out… but I wish they'd shown up earlier…

Because Imperator Ix stole the Master Emerald.

Just as he took it, he revealed his plans for world domination, which disturbed Shade. She was tricked into thinking the Ix wanted to return to Mobius and establish a new colony; she had no idea he wanted to destroy it. When I first heard her reaction, I could tell she felt betrayed, aggravated, and depressed. She's been told a bunch of lies for as long as she could remember… and I felt sorry for her.

To put the rest of this story in a nutshell, she helped us travel to an alternate dimension known as the Twilight Cage, where the Nocturnus Clan had been banished to when the Argus Event occurred. We collected the Chaos Emeralds and took the fight down Ix himself. Sonic, in his super form, managed to finish him off, and from there, we hopped on board Tails' spaceship and made our way back to Mobius…

Where I would never see Shade again.

When we got home, we found out Dr. Eggman had spent time rebuilding his empire in Metropolis, where he had a secret weapon that would destroy us all. Shade joined us for the fight against Eggman before she disappeared during our celebration.

I asked a few of my friends if they'd seen her, but they all said the same thing… no.

To this day, I've been trying to contact Shade, but she would never respond to her communicator. My concern for her worsened when the Phantom Ruby War happened. I was afraid that Eggman or Infinite got to her, I panicked at that thought that she might have been roboticized, and I… I… I… I wouldn't know what to do if I lost her. For the record, I don't have romantic feelings for her.

She's my friend and I wouldn't know what to do if I lost her.

I've spent more time trying to get in touch with her when the War ended… no response. It was the same thing every day. I was afraid I'd never talk to her again… until tonight.

While searching for G-merl, Big, and Synergy, I was informed by Amy's team that they ran into Shade in a village in the Mystic Ruins. Windmill Village is what it's called, I believe. When Amy told me this, I couldn't believe my luck. Shade was alive and she was living peacefully… thank goodness.

Leaving Amy in charge of the Resistance, I've spent the rest of my night gliding to the Mystic Ruins. It took me a while to get here, but I made it.

Surprisingly, the night was still young even though it felt like it was two in the morning. The moon was full, and the stars illuminated the darkness. A gentle wind brushed against my fur, crickets chirped non-stop throughout my journey, and the smell of barbequed steak got stronger and stronger as I ventured further. Not sure why anyone would be cooking this late at night, but I figured that because of the strong smell, I was getting closer to the village.

After traveling for a few more minutes, I finally came across the remote village itself. It was a small remote mountain village with spread buildings, a village plaza, and a large windmill that was blowing the smell of meat right in my face. Man, that smelled good! I came out of the bushes and walked towards the town. As I got closer, I could hear people singing and clapping. Wonder what they're celebrating?

I strolled into the village itself and came across what looked to be a block party. _**(1)**_

There were purple and yellow party streamers hung from windowsills of different houses. Lanterns scattered across the grass, which did allow me to see more color in the houses. A swarm of food carts were all over the place. They were selling all sorts of junk food like pies, popcorn, root beers, Chao Cola, basically anything that wasn't healthy.

They couldn't have the decency to sell grapes or something?

I continued walking through the town, where music blasted right in my eardrums. I swore I was gonna become deaf from hearing all of this. The music was a weird mix between smooth jazz and hard rock. If Sonic were here, he'd like it more than I would. I don't listen to much music except old school rap. I looked to the right and heard people singing along to the music. They sang something about going back in time to another world or something. I didn't bother to ask.

My curiosity increased. I really wanted to ask someone what was going on here, but I also wanted to ask someone if they'd seen Shade.

It seemed like the Mobian Gods were listening to me because I accidentally bumped into someone from behind.

"Whoops, Pardon me," said an old, scruffy voice in front of me, as he turned around and smiled at me. I bumped into a dark gray goat with a red sweater and a green jacket. He held a cane in his right hand. I'm pretty sure Amy told me about this guy, but I can't remember. Regardless, I hoped he could tell me something about Shade and this party.

"Sorry, sir," I humbly apologized. "I should watch where I'm going next time."

"That's all right," the goat humbly bowed. "I don't think I've seen you around here before, Traveler. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Elder Scruffy, but you can call me Scruffy for short."

"Nice to meet you, Scruffy," I shook the man's hand. "My name's Knuckles. I'm the Commander of the Resistance."

"Ah, so you're the infamous Knuckles the Echidna. I've heard so much about you. Here, let's talk somewhere private. It's a little noisy out here."

"Hey, it did help me find my way here. So did the smell of steak."

"Ah, the smell is strong indeed. Come with me, my friend."

Elder Scruffy pulled me between two houses, where the noise got a little quieter. I leaned against the wall as he sat down on a bench across from me.

"What brings you here, Commander? There's no threat here, is there?"

"Thankfully, no. I'm actually looking for someone who's currently living in this village. As I glided across the forest, I smelled something delicious and it lead me to here, where I heard music and saw people partying. Is there a special occasion?"

"Yes, actually. We were attacked by an army of Eggman's robots earlier today. Our local hero saved us alongside a couple of her friends. Unfortunately, her friends couldn't celebrate with us as they have personal matters to attend to; however, our hero is here, and she plans to sing on stage tonight."

As soon as he said that the hero was a girl, I didn't think he was talking about Shade. I don't imagine her singing, especially to this kind of music.

"Who's your hero?" I rubbed my head.

"Her name is Shade the Echidna."

My eyes lit up with shock. I couldn't believe my luck.

"I assume she's the one you're looking for?" the goat asked with a smile. "It would make sense… she does talk about you quite a bit."

"Really?" My eyes lit up again. "What does she say?"

"Come, we shall speak with her when she's done performing. Speaking of which, I believe she goes on stage in five minutes. Would you care to join me?"

"Certainly. Thank you so much, Scruffy,"

"You're quite welcome, Commander Knuckles. Come, we must hurry. I reserved a front-row seat!"

I followed the excited goat, happy that I was going to see Shade again. But I'm curious… what does she say about me? _**(1s)**_

 _~End of P.O.V._

* * *

A monkey with brown fur and peach skin knocked on the door and Shade opened the door. She waved at her friend, as he smiled and held up his blue guitar.

"Yo, Shade, you ready to rock this joint!?" the monkey snapped his fingers.

"You bet I am, Max," Shade replied with a smile. She turned over her shoulder and called out, "Guys! We gotta go! We're on in five minutes!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" a pink rabbit replied, as he rushed out of the kitchen with drumsticks in one hand and an actual chicken drumstick in the other. He took a bite and tossed it in the garbage. Behind him, a white chicken with black sunglasses followed.

"Y'know, Mach," the chicken spoke. "I find that highly offensive."

"Whatcha talking about, Sharps?" the rabbit shrugged. "You eat chicken pot pie."

"So?"

" _Chicken_ pot pie?"

"I don't see where you're going with this."

" _Bah!_ Whatever."

"C'mon, guys, we don't have time for this," Shade chuckled. She reached to the side and whipped out her acoustic guitar. "Let's get this show on the road, shall we?"

"Yeah! Let's do it to it!" Sharps nodded, as he grabbed his red guitar and followed the band as they trailed out the door. They went behind several houses to avoid being spotted by the villagers. Not because they didn't want to talk to them, but because they wanted to surprise them on stage.

* * *

Knuckles and Elder Scruffy were trapped in a large swarm of people finding their seats. There were about twenty-seven rows of red velvet chairs on the grass, which amazed the echidna. He's never been to a concert before, but he always found it weird how so many people can fill up so many chairs. He gazed around his environment for Shade, hoping to catch her before the show started, but he had no luck.

The goat in front of him could tell he was looking for her, which made him smile. "Fear not, my friend," he told him. "You will see her soon."

"I know she's going up on stage and I'd hate to ruin her performance, but I really need to talk to her," Knuckles replied. "One reason is for an emergency and the other one… well, that one's a little complicated."

"The show shouldn't take long depending on if everything goes according to plan. You'll have your chance to speak with her then. But if you don't mind me asking, what is the emergency?"

"It's… a long story."

"Ah-ha! Here're out seats!"

Both Mobians sat down against the chairs and leaned back against the soft cushions behind them. Knuckles let out a breath of satisfaction, as he was glad he got to relax after many hours of traveling. He looked up on stage and was astonished by how wide it was. It was so wide; it could cover the entire town.

Spotlights shined cyan, yellow, and magenta beams down on the platform, as a red curtain hide what was behind it. Knuckles looked up and saw people walking across a catwalk that was linked with the spotlights. They were adjusting a strange black machine the echidna's never seen before.

"What are those things up there?" Knuckles pointed to the devices.

"Those are smoke machines," Elder Scruffy replied. "Their names are pretty self-explanatory. While they were never around when I was a lad, the younglings here told me that they're used to make concerts more dramatic."

"Smoke machines? Won't that cause a fire hazard?"

"That's what I asked."

The conversation was interrupted when an announcer took over.

 _"Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls! Take your seats, grab your popcorn and drinks, because you're in for the ride of your life! It is with the greatest pride and deepest pleasure to introduce to you…"  
_

Smoke poured down like a waterfall and the curtains slowly rose.

Knuckles leaned forward to see if who was on stage.

Shade the Echidna and her bandmates were all assembled, holding up their instruments and waving to the people.

" _The Sensational Night Shadows!"_

"Why does that name sound familiar?" Knuckles whispered to himself.

Shade glanced over her shoulder, winking at her team, as she raised her guitar pick and looked back at the audience, unaware of who was in the front row.

"One, two, three, hit it!" _**(2)**_

The stage's light suddenly blacked out before they emulated a navy-blue light across the platform. Max and Sharps strummed their guitars to the heavy metal harmony of the music, and Mach thrashed against his drums as if he took his anger out on someone.

Bopping her head to the music, Shade grabbed the microphone and sang. She rocked out on her guitar in the process.

Knuckles' jaw dropped when Shade sang the first note. He couldn't believe how smooth and harmonic it was. Yes, she was singing heavy metal music, something the echidna wasn't too familiar with; however, hearing her pour her heart out for this song made him stunned.

He watched as Mach beat the drums that made his ears go numb.

He analyzed how fast Sharps and Max twiddled their fingers against the guitar strings.

And he was blown away as soon as Shade jumped in the air, slid against the stage on her knees, and continued singing. The music got louder as she hit the high note; Knuckles' jaw continued dropping, as he never believed someone like her could hit a note that long. Shade finally stopped holding it out, giving her lungs a chance to relax, as a small instrumental rest took over the beat.

It didn't take long for her to resume.

Knuckles continued smiling, feeling proud and excited to be watching her sing, as he noticed that a few people on the right stood up from their seats. The rows behind and in front of them did the same thing. Glancing to the left, Knuckles noticed everyone mimicked what their peers were doing.

All of them engaged in an uproar. This was sure to make Knuckles deaf later on.

Elder Scruffy stood up and offered a hand to the echidna.

With a nod, the echidna took the goat's hand and jumped up on his feet, raising his hands in the process. He shouted, " _WHOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOO! GO SHADE! YEAH!_ "

Max and Sharps shared an excited glance as the crowd's applause got louder and louder.

Mach took a deep breath and winked at a few girls in the audience that were holding up a banner with his name on it.

As with Shade, she opened her eyes and she suddenly stopped singing. _**(2s)**_

The monkey and the chicken kept jamming until they came to a halt, noticing their lead singer was stuck.

Noticing the same thing, the rabbit gently banged his drums before he stopped.

Everyone in the audience paused their cheering and gave one another a curious look. They were just jamming out to an awesome song and it suddenly stops, what was going on?

Elder Scruffy and Knuckles wondered the same thing.

Shade the Echidna just stood there, not moving a single muscle. Her purple eyes were locked on something, but nobody knew what it was. Her body shook, her knees buckled, and her dreadlocks tingled. Her mouth was partially open, and her right hand was glued to the microphone. Her bandmates waved their hands over her eyes; she didn't blink at all.

The band tried to follow her eyes, hoping they'd show them what she gazed upon. Their pupils narrowed down the trail until they came to a stop; they found what it was.

Shade was looking straight at Knuckles.

 _No… No… It can't be!... What's he doing here!?_ The orange echidna said in her mind. Sweat poured from her forehead and she couldn't stop staring. _Why now!?... Of all the days to come by here, why did he have to pick now!?_

"Shade… are you okay?" Mach inquired.

Finally making a movie, the singer walked a few steps back before she ran down the stairs of the stage, running into the shadows of the night.

Without saying a word, Knuckles ran after her. _**(3)**_

"Shade, wait!" he called.

"Go away!" she yelled back.

"Slow down! I just want to talk!"

"I don't want to talk to you!"

"Why?"

"Just leave me alone!"

"Did I do something bad? Was it something I said!? I was just cheering for you! I've never been to a concert before, so I don't know the rights and wrongs of sitting in an audience! I'm not that social when it comes to that stuff!"

"It's not that! Just go away!"

"Why? I wanna talk to you! It's important!"

Knuckles came to a stop because at the corner of his eye, a large house sat in the darkness. Pressing his claws against the wall, Knuckles climbed up to the roof like a spider and took a higher route. Below him, Shade ran against the grass before she jumped on top of a food cart. She leaped off, grabbed onto a flagpole, swung around three times, and propelled herself into the air. The red echidna jumped off and began gliding after her, watching her jump between houses.

"Why are you running away?" Knuckles inquired. "You're not the type of person to run, Shade, is something wrong? If so, I can help!"

"I don't need your help and you don't need mine," Shade replied, leaping to the building across from her. "I don't know why you're even here. You should hate me for what I did to you!"

"What?" Knuckles landed in front of her, but Shade jumped over him and continued forward. Knuckles marched close behind. "Why would I hate you?"

"It's nothing!" Shade snarled. "Forget I said anything!"

"Shade, I can read peoples' faces, meaning I know when someone's upset! Tell me what's wrong!" Knuckles replied. "When Amy and her team regrouped with me, they told me they offered you a chance to join us in our fight against Synergy, and then they said you refused. Which is weird because knowing you, you would have joined us because you know how dangerous he is!... but I'm not here to just talk about Synergy, I'm here to talk to _you_ … I've been sending you messages!"

Shade evaded to the right and performed a backflip over Knuckles' head. "Really? I didn't notice," she said sarcastically."

"So, you have been getting my messages!" Knuckles said. He tried to grab her by the wrist, but Shade dodged him and slid underneath him.

"Yes, I have!" she replied.

"Then, why haven't you answered them?" Knuckles shrugged his shoulders. "Do you know how worried I've been for the past few years! Ever since you left, I've been trying to reach you! You won't believe how many times I called you during the War. I was afraid you were roboticized or put to work in one of Eggman's factories. Does that mean nothing to you?"

"During the War, I was traveling the world and helping other people," Shade answered. She kept evading Knuckles before she jumped off the building, landing on the grass. It didn't take long for the red echidna to follow. "Fighting Badniks, taking care of those Phantom Ruby Clones, and trying to defend myself!"

"That's no excuse to ignore my calls!"

Shade jumped onto a chimney, hearing a loud bang from below her. She looked down and saw that Knuckles had crashed into the wall.

"You all right?" she asked.

"Oh, _now_ you're showing concern for me!" Knuckles growled with sarcasm.

Shade groaned back and climbed up the chimney. Knuckles chased after her again.

"There's a reason I haven't sent word back to you or the Resistance," she spoke. "It has nothing to do with you, it has something to do with me! I did something to hurt you and your friends and I couldn't bear to look at you after what I did!... it would fill me up with nothing but guilt, and I can't live like that!"

Both echidnas climbed on top of the roof and ran.

"I don't understand what you're saying at all!" Knuckles raised an eyebrow. "If you stop running and talk to me, then maybe, we can find out what's caused you to feel this way! We can fix this problem together!"

Shade's feet skidded across the roof, making a light dust cloud sprout from her shoes; she finally stopped running. _**(3s)**_

Panting, Knuckles jogged towards her and halted. "Please… just tell me what's wrong… I can try to help you…"

Folding her arms, the orange furred Mobian closed her eyes and sighed in a low tone. She opened her eyes and turned over her shoulder, staring at the echidna's concerned expression.

All was quiet for a quick moment.

She turned around and said, "Do you remember when we came back from the Twilight Cage?... How Eggman took over the world while we were gone?"

"Actually, all he did was rebuild his empire in Metropolis," Knuckles corrected her. "But yes, I do remember that?... why?"

Shade walked to the edge of the roof and sat down. "And you remember that I left after we defeated Eggman, don't you?"

Knuckles nodded.

Letting out one final sigh, Shade looked into Knuckles' purple eyes and said, "That was all my fault… and here's why."

 _ **END OF CHAPTER 25**_

 _ **In Loving Memory of Isabelle McFadden (My Step Great Grandmother and a Loving Relative)**_

* * *

 _Looks like Knuckles finally found Shade, even if it wasn't in a way he imagined. But hey, at least he convinced her to open up. What will happen with Knuckles and Shade next time? Why did Shade leave Knuckles and the others? Guess we will have to find out as our second half of the story continues. Yep, we'll be reaching the final act soon, folks. But there is still a little bit to cover. Find out what's happened to our heroes from Chapter 24 in..._

 _"Chapter 26: The Bond Between Two Gizoids."_

* * *

 ** _POST-A/N:_**

 _"The Sensational Night Shadows?" Gee, wonder why that sounds familiar ;). For those of you who don't understand this. The band's name comes from my original character on FictionPress, Mason Moonstone aka The Sensational Night Shadow. If anyone is interested in reading the three stories on there, look me up by typing in "The Spectacular SpiderDom."  
_

 _Obviously, Max, Mach, and Sharps aren't OCs. They were cut characters from a Sonic game called Sonic the Hedgehog Band, but they also appeared in the Archie Sonic the Hedgehog comics. They also appear in my story, Sonic Heroes: The Atom Bomb (A story in which a mean ol' Guest is bashing for some reason. Wonder what's got them so salty?_

 _The first half of this chapter is a reference to a prequel comic for Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood written by Archie Comics. I have a headcannon that this actually happened before the events of Sonic Chronicles._

 _Thanks for reading once again, web-heads! Don't forget to R &R, check out Night Shadow if you want to, and I'll see you all next time! Peace out, web-heads!_

 _~SD321 (SpiderDom321)_


	26. The Bond of Two Gizoids

**_A/N:_** _Hello, everyone! Here I am back again with another chapter of Awakened. Like I said before, this story and The Sensational Night Shadow on FictionPress are my top priorities at the moment. This story is almost finished, so I want to jot down all my ideas before I go back to Sonic Heroes: The Atom Bomb, my Mario story, and a few others. Thank you to everyone who supported me when my great grandmother passed away. I owe you all a huge thank you and a ghost hug (another term for virtual hug. It's weird, I know). Thanks to everyone who favorited and followed and let's hope we can make it up to 30 chapters without me getting Writer's Block for the millionth freaking time._

 _Also, I want to say to everyone... Happy day before Halloween! Hope you all have a safe night tomorrow and have fun playing Luigi's Mansion 3. For me, it's gonna rain where I am so that sucks. But at least I am looking foward to my step sister's Halloween party on Saturday. I'm gonna be Shaggy from Scooby Doo that day. Like, yeah guys. So let's like get on with the chapter, shall we? Like, special thanks to Infinite's Ruby for helping me with the chapter as always. ;)_

 ** _Suggested Music:_**

 ** _(1) Reflection - Sonic Adventure 2 OST_**

 _Like, without further ado... enjoy the show!_

* * *

 **The Bond of Two Gizoids**

Sonic glanced back at Team Dark and the soldiers before turning his eyes back at his team. He locked eyes with G-merl, Synergy, and Cream, and gave them a nod. G-merl, aware that Sonic had a plan, returned the gesture and held onto Cream. He then wrapped his other hand around Synergy's wrist. Silver and Blaze noticed this.

Cracking his fingers, Sonic suddenly shouted. "Everybody, hang on!"

Without hesitation, everybody grabbed each other's wrist, as Sonic grabbed the Chaos Emerald case.

"Chaos…"

Commander Tower pointed. " _FIRE!_ "

Shadow shouted in retort. _"_ _ **WAIT!**_ "

A gun fired and there was a flash of light.

But the light disappeared, sending the bullet flying into nothingness.

Rouge widened her eyes and gasped, cupping her hands over her mouth.

Shadow gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, glaring at his commander.

Sonic and the others have disappeared; however, because of the commander's actions, they were nearly killed.

"Are you insane!?" the agent yelled at his boss. "You could've killed them!"

"Relax," Commander Tower replied with a stern look. "We didn't bring live ammunition with us… well, the soldiers and I didn't. We brought tranquilizer darts, whereas the drones have live ammo. They were meant to take care of Synergy while we arrested the Resistance."

"You think you could've told us that _before_ you fired?" Rouge folded her arms, rolling her eyes.

"It's not your job to make those calls," the G.U.N. commander walked towards Rouge. "Your mission was to bring in the Gizoid and the cat."

"The cat's innocent," Shadow shook his head.

"Then why is he protecting the robot?"

"He sees some good in Synergy's programming. He believes that with a little bit of guidance, Synergy can be a hero, kind of like how Emerl was before he was destroyed. You remember Emerl, don't you? You sent Rouge over to spy on him and Sonic."

"I do remember him. And I also know he was rebuilt into that robot, G-merl, who's actually helpful unlike Synergy. Well, he _was_ helpful until he chose the wrong side," the commander reached into his pocket and pulled out a walkie talkie. "All units. This is Commander Abraham Tower speaking, all units are required to search every continent, every city, every town, every landmark until the Resistance and Synergy are brought down to justice. Repeat: Search everywhere and find the Resistance and Synergy."

All the soldiers and drones obeyed the command, as they hopped aboard their vehicles and began their search. The commander then turned to Team Dark, folding his arms.

"You three know what to do, yes?"

Shadow, Rouge, and Omega exchanged a neutral glance.

They all gave a nod.

"Don't let me down."

"We won't, Commander," Rouge replied. She and Omega grabbed Shadow's hand, as they all teleported away from the area.

* * *

" _CONTROL!_ "

In the blink of an eye, the Resistance appeared in the middle of nowhere. They sat in a normal forest with tall trees and small bushes. It was still nighttime and every hero, even G-merl and Synergy, were exhausted. The team wanted to get some sleep, but they wanted to figure out where they were first.

Nack, Bean, and Bark's eyes spun around like spirals; they were dazed by the Chaos Control. Shaking their heads, they all stood up and rubbed their heads.

Vector grunted in anger and waved his arms in the air. "Well, that's just great! I _knew_ those guys would turn on us! The moment Rouge offered to help us look for this Chaos knockoff over there, I somehow _knew_ she was up to something! But did anybody listen to me!? _NO!_ Because you all think I'm some kind of bonehead!"

"Um… you never said anything like that," Mighty pointed out.

Now, the crocodile was embarrassed. "Oh… ha-ha, whoops."

Whisper approached Sonic and G-merl. _"Why didn't we turn him in? That was our chance to put him behind bars."_

"Because if we arrested Synergy, Big would be arrested too," G-merl answered. "I'm not allowing them to be put in jail, especially Big."

"Jail?" Big inquired. "Why would we go to jail?"

"I'm sure it's nothing, Big," Synergy placed a hand on the cat's back. "You and I aren't going anywhere except back to the Mystic Ruins."

"Holy Chili Cheese Dogs, how many times do we have to tell you!?" Amy snarled. "The Nocturnus Clan are gone! We defeated them in the Twilight Cage! What's it gonna take for you to stop being so stubborn and accept the fact they're gone!?"

"Ms. Rose, relax," Cream put his hand on Amy's shoulder. "Yelling at Synergy's not going to solve anything."

"Don't you understand?" Amy continued her rant. "Your people are gone, so that means you're-"

"Free." Cream smiled.

Amy and Synergy turned to the rabbit. "What?" they both asked.

"Synergy, I may not know much about those people as much as you do, but I know that they were evil and they wanted to ruin our world," Cream approached Synergy, holding his hands. G-merl stood and observed. "I know you were part of those people years ago, but they made you their slave, so that means you're free now. They no longer have the right to boss you around anymore… I know they created you, but they made you into a monster and Mr. Big and I know you're more than that."

"Cream's right on one thing, Synergy," Big chimed in. "After everything that's happened, I still believe you can do a lot more for this world than just be its king. Kings don't get to do fun stuff like we can. Remember our day in Soleanna and how I had to race Sonic Man? Yeah, I accidentally squished him, but we had so much fun that day. Froggy remembers, right, Froggy?"

The green frog on the cat's shoulder made a ribbit.

"That… could be…" Synergy lowered his head. Wrapping a fist around his chest, he looked down and thought about all the fun he had in Soleanna and in Casino Forest before Eggman attacked him. It was one of the only moments where his mind wasn't focused on following in Lord Ix's footsteps… but he still had a mission to do. "But I refuse to believe that my people are gone. Call me stubborn if you want to, but it's my belief… I know they're still out there somewhere and it's my duty to find them. Nothing can change my mind. Besides… what more does this world have to offer? Surely, it can't have more than what I saw already."

"You're kidding, right?" G-merl inquired. "You really think you've seen everything? Nope, mi amigo. You haven't seen a quarter of what Mobius has in store… here, how about we make a deal?"

Synergy folded his arms. "I'm listening."

"Give us a chance to show you there's more to Mobius than just being a place for a king. In other words, let us show you around the world and see if you think it needs to be ruled by a king. If you like what you see, then you can have the chance to be free. If you don't like it… then, we'll take you to the Mystic Ruins and help you find your people."

The Resistance, except Cream and Big, felt their pupils giggle and their jaws drop. They each exchanged a glance with each other.

Stroking his chin, Synergy replied, "How long will this take?"

"Depends. How long are you giving us?"

"Three days."

"What?" Sonic retorted. "No way!"

"Seeing the world in three days?" Tangle rubbed her head and looked at Whisper. "Seems kind of impossible, don't you think?"

Whisper turned away from the lemur.

"Did I say something?" the lemur asked the Chaotix. They all shrugged their shoulders.

"Best I can do," Synergy replied. "Take it or leave it."

G-merl looked at Cream and then at Big. His eyes shifted back to the rabbit and then at the other Gizoid. Three days seemed like a short time, even with someone as fast as Sonic on their side, but he thought there was a possibility it could work. He turned back to his friends, who were all curious about his response.

Then, in a quick moment… G-merl held out his hand, offering Synergy a handshake.

"You got yourself a deal."

Synergy took the hand of his former ally and shook it.

"So… where are we gonna sleep?" Tails asked with a yawn.

"Yeah, all of this fighting has me sleepy," Charmy nearly fell to the ground as he said that, forcing Ray to catch him.

" _I don't see anywhere to stay,"_ Whisper spoke. _"Perhaps, we can set up camp for tonight."_

Ray nodded in agreement. "Good idea, W-W-W-W-W-"

" _Whisper,"_ the wolf smiled.

"R-right, s-s-sorry."

" _S'okay."_

"That's not such a bad idea!" Bean clapped. "We can make a fire, roast marshmallows, tell ghost stories, and-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Vector waved his hands and shook his head. "Who said anything about _you three_ tagging along?"

"Yeah, last time I checked, you and a bunch of other idiots tried to kill us!" Amy added.

"Whoa, kill is a loose term. We were meant to… well, seriously injure you," Nack grinned nervously. "But come on, Mates, that was all in the past. We can be friends now, right?"

"You wanna tag along with us because you're G.U.N.'s gonna catch you," Sonic smirked, folding his arms.

"We cannot confirm nor deny that fact," pointed the duck. He then jumped onto Sonic's feet and gazed into the hedgehog's eyes. Salty tears poured down his beak in the process. "Please, Mr. Needlemouse! My friends and I don't want to go back to jail! It's cold, dark, and you meet people who do bad things to you in there! Please, don't let us go back! We beg of you, good sir! Please don't turn us in!"

Facepalming, Sonic looked at his friends and back at the duck and the other Hooligans. "All right, fine. You can come, but if you steal something, I won't hesitate to give you all serious beatings."

Bean stopped crying and saluted the hedgehog like a soldier honoring a captain. "Yes, sir!... Ha-ha, a little tears gets em' every time."

"How are we supposed to set up camp?" Espio asked. "We don't have any supplies."

Tangle stroked her chin and snapped her fingers. "Hold on, guys… I know exactly where we are, which means I know exactly where to go."

"Uh, oh," Bean whispered to Bark. "If somebody says the word _'exactly'_ twice in one sentence, it raises a red flag."

* * *

"La-de-dum, la-dee-dee, la-da-dee, lad-da-dum, la-da-doooo!" sang an anthropomorphic beetle with light blue skin, pink eyes, a small black nose and a white muzzle.

She was inside a museum, dusting a bunch of shelves that contained several minerals and gemstones, both ancient and modern. She continued whistling, as she flew up to the next shelf and wiped the dust away.

The moon shined its light down through the museum window, which shed some light on her light blue exoskeleton with a pink, yellow, green and blue rainbow-like sheen. Her antennae, which matched the same color as her exoskeleton, wiggled in harmony with her voice.

Finishing the top shelf, she flew down and looked all around her. Every single shelf, mineral, cabinet, etc. was squeaky clean. The beetle nodded in satisfaction, as she looked down at her pink blazer and matching pink pencil skirt. She wiped off some dirt on it with her white gloves, as she watched tiny particles drop to the floor, right where her pink wedge pumps were. Adjusting her navy cufflinks and brushing off her navy stockings, the beetle grabbed a broomstick and a dustpan, wiping the dirt off the floor.

Once she tossed it all in the garbage can, she heard three knocks at the door.

"Hmm?" she murmured. "Weird… who would come here at this time of night?"

Walking towards the door, the beetle opened up and jumped back in surprise.

Tangle the Lemur and the Resistance were outside.

"Tangle?"

"Hey, Jewel. How ya doing?"

"What are you doing here? I thought you were visiting family in Green Hill City."

"I was… until… well, it's a long story. May we come in? We're in a bit of a pickle."

"I don't see any pickles," Synergy rubbed his head.

"It's an expression, genius," G-merl replied sarcastically.

"Sorry, the Mineral Museum is closed," Jewel the Beetle replied. "But you can come back tomorrow if you-"

"We're not here for that," Tangle interrupted. "We're… in a tight spot. Is it cool with you if we stay here for tonight?"

Jewel nodded and allowed the Resistance into her museum with a welcoming gesture. Upon entering, the team watched her close the door.

"What's going on here, Tangle?" the beetle asked. "Is there something I should know about?"

"Somewhat," Tangle rubbed the back of her head. "But first… _introductions!_ Jewel, these guys are the Resistance who saved us from Eggman's empire a while back: Sonic, Tails, Amy, Cream, G-merl, Espio, Vector, Charmy, Big, Silver, and Blaze. Those guys over there are some dinguses named Nack, Bean, and Bark."

"Hey!" Nack shouted.

"And that guy over there is named Synergy. Guys, allow me to introduce to you my best friend… Jewel the Beetle."

"Hello," Jewel waved nervously.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," G-merl shook hands with the beetle. Synergy did the same. "Sorry for barging in like this. We promise we won't stay for long."

"No, no," Jewel said. "It's fine. But I gotta know," she looked suspiciously at Tangle. "What exactly is going on here?"

* * *

In another room… Tangle told Jewel the whole story and didn't leave out a single detail.

But what she didn't anticipate was Jewel's reaction.

" _YOU_ _ **WHAT!?**_ "

"I'm pretty much wanted by G.U.N. for protecting a criminal."

"Are you kidding me, Tangle!? Of all the careless things you could do like trashing Ron's chili dog stand to knocking something over in the museum, _this_ is what you do!? Find a way to get yourself arrested by the government!"

"Well, I didn't get arrested. I almost did, but I didn't. Look, I know it seems bad, but trust me, this will all turn out good in the end."

"How so!?"

"It's like every comic book ever made. The heroes are wanted by the police force and have to prove themselves innocent. Blah, blah, blah, a huge final battle happens. Blah, blah, blah, the police force apologize for being wrong, all goes back to the way it was, and then the sequel comes out a year later."

Jewel facepalmed. "Tangle, this isn't _anything_ like those comic books you read. This is _real life!_ You can't get out of this one by thinking it's all going to turn out well in the end. Now, I'm not going to turn _you_ and the Resistance in because you're my best friend and I don't want to betray you; however, if that blue and green Gizoid is a wanted fugitive, then I'm calling the police."

As the beetle reached for the phone, the lemur wrapped her tail around her arm. "Wait!" Tangle retorted. "Don't do that! We made a deal with him that we don't want to get out of!"

"What deal did you make!? Let go of my arm!... Ow! Ow! Tangle, you're hurting me… _STOP IT!_ "

Tangle gasped and released her friend's arm. To which Jewel rubbed it in pain.

"I-I'm sorry, Jewel," Tangle's face dropped. "Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine," Jewel nodded. "What deal did you guys make with him?"

* * *

Waiting for Jewel and Tangle to return, Synergy found himself mesmerized by the minerals on the shelves. They ranged from big to little, yellow to blue, and metamorphic to igneous. Synergy didn't believe just how many types of rocks there were on Mobius. His green eyes turned to the right, as he stroked his chin; he was looking at pink and turquoise crystals.

Cream and G-merl decided to join him.

"See something you like, Mr. Synergy?" Cream smiled.

"Never would have thought collecting rocks would be a hobby in this generation," Synergy replied. "Especially ones what are beautiful. It's obvious this Jewel character takes care of her possessions. I wonder where some of these rocks come from."

"You'll find out as we show you what this world is like," G-merl replied. "Trust me when I say this, Synergy… I think you're gonna love the new Mobius."

"I'll believe it when I see it," Synergy replied. There was a cold silence for a minute before the Gizoid turned to the duo. "Hey, I know I haven't been the nicest addition to this team, but I wanted to say… thank you."

Cream and G-merl exchanged a curious glance.

"What?" G-merl inquired.

"I said thank you for everything you've done for me. Telling me your story, helping me fight Neo Metal Sonic, protecting me from G.U.N. I know I don't deserve all of this protection from the way I've treated most of you, but the fact that you've stuck around this long without ripping my head off… it makes me admire your compassion, Emerl… thank you."

"It's G-merl… and you're welcome."

Just then, Tangle and Jewel returned to the main lobby.

Everyone pointed their eyes at them.

"You can stay here for tonight," Jewel said. "I have some sleeping bags in the closet you can all borrow."

"Sweet!" Vector wrapped his arms around Espio and Charmy. "Time to get some shut eye, boys!"

"You think we can have a slumber party?" asked Bean.

Everyone shouted at once, " _NO!_ "

Bean folded his arms in disappointment. "Fine, no spin the bottle for you, I guess."

"I'll go get the sleeping bags," Jewel nodded.

"Allow me and Whisper to help you out," Tangle offered. Whisper jumped out of her seat and followed the two friends. Her Wisps huddled beside her during the walk. "Jewel… thank you for-"

Before she could finish, Jewel assaulted her with a tight hug. The lemur let out a small gasp before she smiled and hugged her best friend back.

"Just… be careful… okay, Tangle?"

"Don't worry, Jewel. With these way past cool guys around, I'll be A-okay!"

Whisper slightly smiled when she heard that.

* * *

It took the Resistance a couple of minutes to get all of the sleeping bags set up on the ground. Sonic's bag sat next to Tails and Cream's. Amy, of course, placed her bag dangerously close to Sonic's bag. Vector made a joke about what was going to happen to the two hedgehogs in the morning. Speaking of the crocodile, his sleeping bag sat across from Espio and Mighty, but he was parallel to Charmy and Ray. The flying squirrel fist-bumped his best friend before he tucked himself into bed.

Tangle and Whisper sat next to one another. The wolf wanted to sleep alone with her Wisps, but the lemur insisted that she'd place her bag next to hers. Whisper reluctantly agreed, as she hugged her Wisps good night and placed her head against her pillow.

The ring-tailed lemur curled beside her long tail and yawned, closing her eyes.

G-merl untucked a sleeping bag and tucked Cream and Cheese into bed. They sat right next to Big. Cream yawned, as she hugged G-merl.

"Good night, G-merl," she whispered, as her eyes began to close.

"Good night, Kiddo," the Gizoid replied.

"See you in the morning, Synergy," Big smiled.

"Likewise, Big," Synergy nodded, as he watched the cat tuck himself into bed.

Everybody was fast asleep… except for the two Gizoids.

Synergy approached the door.

"Where do you think you're going?" asked G-merl.

"Come here," Synergy answered, opening the door. "I wanna show you something."

Hesitant, the black and yellow Gizoid followed, exiting the museum. To his surprise, he watched as Synergy activated his jet boosters and levitated himself onto the rooftop. G-merl did the same thing and landed right on the rooftop, where a pale moonlight shined down on his body.

He and Synergy walked a few steps forward.

"You brought me here to show me the view outside?" G-merl inquired. "I don't blame you, it's quite nice out here. The beautiful city, a clear sky, shining stars, a nice view of the remaining half of the moon, what's not to like about this?"

"It is nice out here, but that's not why we're up here," Synergy stopped walking. He then clenched his fists and turned to his ally, getting into a boxing position. "You remember all those times we'd spar back in the day? We would always train with one another to prepare for the war."

"How could I forget?" G-merl replied with a bit of cockiness in his voice. "I'd always beat you."

"Quite a bit of sass for someone who's about to lose."

"Am I sensing a challenge?"

"Nope, you're sensing your defeat."

"Seriously? You want to spar right here, right now? Why?"

"Because I wanna see if you still got it."

"Still got it?" G-merl chuckled. "Did you _not_ see me whip the crud out of the Deadly Six and Babylon Rogues?"

"Nah, those guys were just two-bit goons pretending to be real villains," Synergy replied. "You know… if you wanna protect me and those other guys you care about, how does a little one on one match sound?"

"Heh, you were always eager to spar, despite the countless times I whooped your sorry behind."

"Unlike other soldiers and Gizoids, who were furious losing to you, I enjoyed it."

"Wow, that totally doesn't sound creepy."

"Oh, shut up. I meant that losing to you helped me grow. It taught me about getting stronger and being more quick on my toes. So, come on! Let's see what you got, Emerl. Unless you're too scared."

"Scared?... of you? Ha! Don't make me laugh! Let's see what you've got… but no powers. We don't wanna attract any attention or wake anyone up."

"Oh, don't worry, Emerl… I'll go easy on you."

"That's how you wanna be, huh, Synergy? Okay, then, bring it on!"

Both Gizoids got into battle positions.

They stood still for a few seconds before they charged straight forward like raging bulls.

* * *

 _~G-merl's P.O.V._

Hmm… I haven't had one of these in a while. Guess it was only a matter of time before another flashback showed up again.

Let's see what this one's about this time, shall we?

In all seriousness, another memory flashed. I found myself sparring against Synergy, just like how I was now. Only I was in the middle of the Mystic Ruins. It was a bright, sunny day. No clouds were in the sky, but the wind was ridiculously high today and it was also pretty hot outside. I was expecting a Nocturnus Clan soldier to walk out with a bathing suit and jump into the lake. I'd do that if I was a Mobian.

Synergy and I were out here training for the Echidna War that was coming up soon. I believe the battle was in two days, so we needed to train fast. Yes, we were programmed by the most experienced engineers in our clan, but Shade insisted Synergy and I train by ourselves, since I was going to lead the Gizoid army into battle in the first place. Synergy, of course, would be my second in command.

We set up by the lake and did nothing but train for the past two hours.

Our normal sparring matches lasted around thirty minutes, but those fights were months before everyone started focusing on the war, so it makes sense that our training sessions would last longer.

At the time, I didn't really mind since I was not given much freedom to do what I wanted back then.

So, I just had to go with the flow.

Training with Synergy has always been a passion of mine back then, he'd always lose, and I'd tease him for clumsy. Of course, he would snarl at me and demand a rematch only to get dropped on his face again.

Speaking of which, I was about to end this Gizoid's whole career.

"You're getting sloppy, Synergy," I teased, as Synergy threw a punch at me and I immediately dodged to the side. "You gotta move quicker than that."

"Sheesh your yammering, Project: Emerl," my opponent grunted at me, as he launched another punch. "We're supposed to be professionals."

"Lighten up, I'm just trying to brighten the mood. Everything's been somber as of late with preparing for war and scouting for intruders. The least I can do is put some humor into our training."

"Shotty humor if you ask me."

This man was going down for saying that.

I swerved underneath Synergy's right hook and grabbed him around the waist. Jumping upward, I spun him in a circle and slammed his body against the ground. I felt like I was in a wrestling match you'd see on TV.

Getting up, I brushed some dirt off my legs and watched as Synergy struggled to get up. I walked towards him and got down on my knees.

"Like Procurator Shade always says… Expect the unexpected, or your concentration will be redirected."

"Oh, shut up," Synergy grunted. I offered him my hand and he took it. I pulled him up on his feet and watched him brush the dirt off his chest and legs. "That was a lucky shot. Good match, Project: Emerl. I can see you're improving as always."

"Same to you… somewhat," I nodded before I held my fists against my face. "Shall we go again? You know you want to."

"Did you even need to ask?" Synergy chuckled, as he cracked the wires in his fingers and mimicked my position.

As the two of us began to spar again, there was something that came up in my mind. Some of you may remember that a while ago, I had a flashback about Shade and I patrolling Sand Ruins and we had a heart-to-heart conversation about wanting to have friends and family.

I recall promising her that I would keep our conversation a secret; however, I wanted to talk to Synergy about this matter.

But there was one problem.

How was I supposed to tell him without breaking my promise to Shade?

Ducking under more hooks and avoiding three jabs, I thought of how I would introduce the conversation.

"Hey, Synergy… I gotta ask you something."

The Gizoid blocked my punch. "What is it?"

Rolling to the left, I fired a roundhouse kick against Synergy's face. "I heard a conversation between two soldiers the other day. They said some interesting things."

Synergy tried to trap me in a headlock, but I punched his chest and smacked him across the face.

"What did they talk about?" he inquired, as he continued fighting. "Battle plans?"

"No," I answered, as I evaded more attacks. "It was about… um… it was… they spoke… about… um… uh…"

Synergy froze. "What is it? What did they speak of?"

I was in a jam.

I really didn't feel like breaking my promise to Shade, so how was I supposed to do this? Stroking my chin and tapping the tip of my head's fin, my fingers snapped; the answer finally came to me.

"If we win-"

"You mean, _when_ we win."

"Pardon?"

"You said _if_ we win when you should have said _when_ we win. We _are_ gonna win, there's no doubt about it. Imperator Ix programmed us to be the most ruthless war machines in his ensemble of soldiers, so there's no way we can lose… but that's not the main reason. No, the reason we _will_ triumph over our enemies… is because of _you_."

"Me?"

"You're going to lead an army of our kind into combat. With your leadership skills combined with your ability to copy the biodata of others, we have a high chance of killing every member of the Knuckles Clan that stands in our way."

If I had a throat, I would gulp after hearing that.

How would you respond to something like that?

"My bad, then," I said. " _When_ we win the war… what happens next?"

Synergy was stumped. "Come again?"

"What's gonna happen when the war's over? Are we gonna continue to be war machines for Lord Ix or will we get to do something else? Those two echidnas spoke about what they would do after we've won. I believe they said they would travel around the world, explore different cultures, meet new civilizations, and discover creatures we didn't know existed on this planet. You think that's something we could do when the war ends?"

"Well, I-"

"Just think. They're might be other Mobians or robots out there in the world, waiting to meet us. They probably want to make new friends, try new foods, learn about the religious beliefs of different groups… doesn't that sound fun to you? Because it sounds like it to me. Gosh, could you imagine two Gizoids exploring the world? Wouldn't that be a dream come true?"

 _Phew!_ Didn't break my promise to Shade: Mission Accomplished.

I leaned back against a tree and waited for Synergy's response. What I just said sounded like I one of those tomboy princesses from those fairy tale movies, only I didn't break out into song.

Folding my arms, I patiently waited for my comrade's reply… only to be disappointed.

"All of that sounds nice and all, but why waste your time wandering around when you can stay here?" He asked. "We were programmed for one purpose: live and serve under the Nocturnus Clan's name."

"Yeah, but don't you think there's more to life than just being a war machine?"

"Not in my book. I'm happy with the way things are turning out here. I swore my duty to Lord Ix ever since I was built and there's no way I'm going to push that aside because I see no reason to. You know what they say, if it ain't broke, why fix it?"

He did have a point there, but Vanilla always told me and Cream, _Be happy with what you have_ , _but don't be afraid to reach out for more_.

"Are we going again or what?" Synergy asked, as he pointed his fists towards his face. "Come on, Project: Emerl. I don't have all day."

Shaking my head, I was disappointed that Synergy didn't see where I was coming from back then. All he was focused on was pleasing his people, something that he still wants to do in the present day.

Kind of sad if you ask me.

Copying his position, the two of us began to fight again.

Then, there was a flash of light.

 _~End of P.O.V._

* * *

G-merl punched Synergy twice before he landed a kick against his chest.

Pulling his fist back, the black/yellow robot fired an uppercut on his opponent's chin, knocking him into the air. G-merl then teleported behind Synergy, kicking him in the back.

The ancient robot took a tumble before landing on his feet.

"You've been practicing, Project: Emerl," Synergy wiped his face as if dirt was there. "I'm impressed."

"I still got the moves," G-merl quipped. "Let's see if you can keep up, old man."

"Old man? Seriously?" Synergy chuckled, as he lunged forward and slashed his claws at G-merl's face. But he missed. "We're Gizoids, we can't age! Besides, even if we could, you'd be just as old as I am!"

"Yeah, but I've got a new body," G-merl punched Synergy's stomach again and fired a kick. "One that feels like a million Mobians."

"A new body cannot feel like money! Money is made of paper!"

"Just an expression, dude."

Synergy reached his claws out and grabbed G-merl by his arms. Yanking the Gizoid towards him, he was prepared to take him down with a volley kick, unaware his opponent had a trick up his sleeve.

Breaking free of Synergy's clutches, G-merl slid between the Gizoid's feet and knocked him into the air with a side whip kick. Teleporting, he appeared above Synergy and slammed his foot against his chest, which caused the latter to divebomb towards the ground.

But just as Synergy tried to save himself, he was suddenly caught by G-merl.

It was clear who won the fight.

Folding his arms, Synergy snarled to himself. He felt embarrassed that even after millennia, he still couldn't beat his ally.

"Looks like I win," G-merl chuckled, as he put Synergy back on his feet. "Not bad, Synergy. I see you've gotten better."

"Thanks, but it looks like I need more work," Synergy replied. "Heh, it's funny. Remember what Procurator Shade used to say to me. She'd always say, expect the unexpected-"

"Or your concentration will be redirected," G-merl finished the sentence. _**(1)**_

To which the blue/green robot was surprised. "Y-you remember that?"

"Of course I do. It's not like I had a sudden flashback around it or anything."

"Ha… even if you've been reprogrammed a few times, it's hard to believe you still have memories of _hi-ya!_ "

Synergy punched G-merl in the chest, which sent him flying a few feet backward.

A small compartment popped out of G-merl's chest.

"Gotcha!" Synergy cheered. "Bet you didn't see that coming, didn't you, Emerl? Hahahahaha! I still got the-… the… hmm?"

Gazing his eyes at the right corner of G-merl's chest, Synergy noticed two chips hidden inside the compartment. Approaching the robot, he pointed at both of them.

"What's that?"

"What?" G-merl looked down and noticed the compartment was exposed. "Ah, I forget about these things sometimes. These two are programming chips. They give me my personality and my abilities. The red one, built by Dr. Eggman, programs me with enhanced combat abilities whereas the green one, built by Tails, gives me the biodata of my old self, meaning I have Emerl's memories as well as a mixture of my friends' personalities. I'm programmed with the cockiness of Sonic, the humbleness of Tails, the brashness of Knuckles, the manners of Amy, the humility of Shadow, the cleverness of Rouge, and last but not least… the politeness of Cream."

Synergy nodded his head. "That's… interesting. What do you do without the green chip?"

"Oh, that's when _this_ happens."

Removing the green chip from his systems, G-merl gave it to Synergy and stood still for a second. His eyes began to glow before a dinging sound was heard. G-merl then stood straight and approached Synergy.

"Proceeding to search for a new designation. New mission must be acknowledged."

Putting his hand over where his mouth would be, Synergy silently chuckled.

"Priority One: Destroy life forms that hurt Cream and family. Assessment: Destroy all of those who stand in my way."

That chuckle shortly became laughter.

"Scanning emotion. Designation: Laughter. Analysis: Laughter, the action or sound of laughing. Laughing, a sign of happiness, often used if one finds something funny. Assessment: Project: Synergy is feeling 99% happy or amused."

Synergy slapped his knee and continued laughing. It reminded him of how he spoke to Sonic and Metal when he met them in the underground tomb, which felt like a long time ago to him. Placing his hands over his eyes, Synergy laughed more and more before he decided he was finished.

"Life form is not feeling neutral. Designation: Laughter has stopped. Analysis-"

"Okay, buddy. Time to get the real you back."

Placing the chip back in G-merl's compartment, the Gizoid turned back to normal.

"See?" G-merl inquired. "Pretty funny, right?"

"Y-yeah, it is," Synergy nodded, trying to keep himself from laughing more.

The two Gizoids stood alone on a quiet night.

Both of them looked up into the sky and saw thousands of stars surround the moon's half that remained after the Space Colony Ark incident.

Looking back at each other, G-merl made a fist and pointed it towards Synergy.

"You're looking to spar again?" Synergy rubbed his head.

"No, silly goose. I'm offering you a fist bump."

"A fist bump?"

"Yeah, it's something my friends and I do all the time. It's a way of being like, _'Yeah, good job!'_ or _'You totally rock, dude!'_ Come on, try it."

Synergy made a fist and accidentally punched G-merl too hard, sending him tumbling across the ground.

"Oops… sorry, Emerl."

Getting up, G-merl bushed himself off and walked towards the Gizoid. "We'll… work on that later. It's getting late, we should watch over the others."

"Yeah… you're right."

Just as the black/yellow drone stepped toward the edge of the building, he came to a sudden halt.

"Emerl," said Synergy.

He turned around. "What's up, Synergy?"

Rubbing his shoulders, the ancient robot looked to the side before he said this. "Thank you for… coming up here tonight… and thank you for everything that you've done for me. I know I haven't been the nicest or the most trustworthy, but I want to thank you for all that you've done for me tonight."

G-merl nodded. "Hey, no problem… and trust me when I say this, you're gonna love what we have in store for the next three days. What we're about to show you is gonna blow your mind." _**(1s)**_

* * *

"What I'm about to tell you may or may not blow your mind," Shade the Echidna frowned, as she took a sip of her tea before placing it on the table.

She and Knuckles returned to her house a few minutes ago and she spent some time making tea. The red echidna was finally going to get the reason why Shade's been so distant for a long time.

Taking a sip of his tea, he waited in agitation.

"Shade, whatever it is you have to tell me, I'll listen to every word."

Nervously closing her eyes, Shade felt reassured by Knuckles' words and took a deep breath.

That was when the story began to unfold.

 _ **END OF CHAPTER 26**_

* * *

 _Friendship comes in many shapes and sizes. Synergy made a friend in Big and now he's bonded with G-merl, just like he did in the past. Let's just hope our wannabe villain can realize there's more to life than just being a king. Perhaps, he should play Sonic and the Black Knight sometime. G-merl and his friends will do everything they can to change Synergy's personality, but that may be easier said than done now that Team Dark and G.U.N. are on their tail._

 _But it appears that will have to wait, as Knuckles prepares to listen to Shade's side of her story. What did happen to her after the fall of the Nocturnus Clan? Why did she leave? Find out as we take a break from Sonic and the others and explore Shade's backstory in..._

 _"Chapter 27: Shade vs The Eggman Empire."_

* * *

 ** _POST-A/N:_**

 _Jewel the Beetle from IDW Sonic has finally shown up in here and I gotta say. Even though she's appeared in a few issues, I really love her! She's adorable, dorky, and a perfect best friend for someone who's crazy as Tangle. I hope we see more of Jewel in the future. And the fact that she's a blue-colored beetle gets an A+ in my book!_

 _That one scene where Synergy hears G-merl talk like a normal robot is a small gag towards G-merl's personality in the IDW Comics. Even though I don't mind it as much, I do believe that he could have more personality to him. He's supposed to be Emerl 2.0, right? And Emerl had a lot of traits from characters in Sonic Battle, right? So, why doesn't G-merl behave the same as he does in the Archie Comics and his predecessor? That green chip Tails made is my head cannon as to how G-merl has his memories of Emerl as well as personality traits._

 _Has anyone read IDW Sonic Issue #2 and Tangle and Whisper #3? Holy smokes! Those issues are so goooooooooood! I love them both! Tangle and Whisper #3 is easily my favorite issue to date! Mimic is handled better than he was in Issue #2. In that one, he seemed like a run of the mill, dullard, villain. But Issue #3 expands on his persona and motivation. I actually shed a small tear when I saw what happened to Whisper's old team. They will make an appearance in here soon, but Mimic will not show up through the rest of the story._

 _I was planning to make a Tangle and Whisper spin-off of my own that would take place after the events of this story, but I'm afraid it may be a bad idea or I might be called a sell-out. What do you guys think? Should I go for it or just leave this story be?_

 _As always, don't forget to R &R, my friends. Thanks for taking the time to read the chapter. I'm The Sensational SpiderDom321 and I'll see you next time! Peace out, web-heads!_

 _~SD321 (SpiderDom321)_


	27. Shade vs The Eggman Empire

_**A/N:** Well, this is it everyone! The chapter everyone has been waiting for! The chapter where we experience what happened to Shade after the events of Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood. Not gonna lie, I was nervous about this chapter when I first wrote it, as I feel it's not enough. But after some help from my co-writer, Infinite's Ruby, I decided that I am happy with the final product. Special thanks to themattmann4000 for favoriting this story, that was pretty awesome of you!_

 ** _Suggested Music:_**

 ** _(1) Eggman Day Boss - Sonic Unleashed OST_**

 ** _(2) Dreams of an Absolution (LB vs JS Remix) - Sonic the Hedgehog 2006 OST_**

 ** _(3) Death Egg Robot - Sonic Generations OST_**

 ** _(4) Sad Ending - Shadow the Hedgehog OST_**

 _Without further ado, enjoy the show!_

* * *

 **Shade vs. The Eggman Empire**

 _~Shade's P.O.V._

What have I done?

What did I do to deserve this?

Was there anything I could've done to prevent this?

No, of course not! I didn't know this was going to happen. So, why do I feel like this is my fault?

That's because it _is_ my fault.

Not too long ago, I joined forces with my friends, Knuckles the Echidna, Sonic the Hedgehog, Amy Rose, and their group of Freedom Fighters into the Twilight Cage: an alternate dimension where my clan and I were banished to four-thousand years ago. My empire spent their time working on ways to return back to Mobius, so that we could spread our clan across the globe once more.

But unfortunately, my master: Imperator Ix had other plans.

As soon as we returned to Mobius and settled on Angel Island, it was at that moment where Ix revealed his true colors. In other words, he told me he wanted world domination. Hearing that made me flabbergasted and humiliated. I couldn't believe I worked for a dictator who forced me to take the lives of warriors from the Knuckles Clan. I tried to stop him from snatching the Master Emerald from Knuckles' possession, but he overpowered me and pushed me off the island itself.

But before I could fall to my doom, which I felt I deserved, Knuckles saved me in the nick of time.

I was surprised when he saved me. I tried to kill him and his friends throughout their journey, so I pondered about what his reason for saving me was.

But that thought was placed aside as soon as Knuckles and I landed on the surface. We regrouped with the Freedom Fighters and agreed that we needed to join forces in order to stop Ix's plan.

Even though they didn't like me at first, I miraculously won them over by saving their lives and telling them about different cultures in the Twilight Cage.

Sonic and his friends have hearts of gold because after spending some time together, they put their trust in me, telling me that it wasn't my fault that I fought alongside Ix and his clan. I thought they were being too nice before I believed they were right.

But after the final battle against my former master, I realized that all of this was my fault.

What happened after we returned from the Twilight Cage was caused by me. If I had known about Ix's plans sooner, maybe this could have been prevented. If only I hadn't acted like such a fool.

After coming back to Mobius… my team and I realized…

Dr. Eggman took over our world.

Well, okay, that last part was a bit exaggerated.

He didn't have an iron fist over Mobius. Instead, he rebuilt his empire in Metropolis and sent battleships to chase us down, knowing that when we returned, he'd be ready to shoot out of the sky. My friends and I hung onto our seats with a solid grip.

"Hang on, everyone!" Tails shouted at the top of his lungs. Him and Sonic were sitting at the front of the ship. "It's gonna be a bumpy landing!"

A loud explosion followed by a loud bang indicated that Eggman's defenses were getting fierce. All around us, missiles were exploding and Badniks were firing projectiles. Mashing multiple buttons, Tails fired his own laser blasts at the Badniks and shattered them to pieces. I felt reassured knowing that he would get us out of here, but because of how fast we were flying, I started to second guess myself. Knuckles sat by my side and looked into my eyes as if to say that everything was gonna be okay. I looked back at him and nodded before turning back to face the window.

In the back, I could hear E-123 Omega talking to Shadow and Rouge.

"THIS GAME WAS DEVELOPED BY BIOWARE," he said. Must've had a broken chip or something. "BIOWARE WAS FOUNDED BY TWO DOCTORS. DR. GREG ZESCHUK IS THE PRESIDENT AND DR. RAY MUZYKA IS THE CEO OF-"

"Not now, Omega!" Rouge barked.

"How did this happen?" Shadow snarled, as he heard more explosions outside. "We were only gone for what, three hours!?"

"Time works differently in the Twilight Cage," I informed them. "A day may inside the dimension may translate to mere seconds in other ones; while for others, years may pass on the outside."

"Wait, so does that mean we missed years of our lives!?" Sonic began to panic. "How many birthdays did I miss? How old am I? Is eating laundry items still a thing!? I'm freaking out here!"

"Get a hold of yourself, Sonic!" Amy yelled, grabbing him by the shoulders and shaking him like a ragdoll. "Eggman's our top priority! Tails, are there any safe landing zones in the area?"

"Looking for one as we speak, Amy!" I watched as Tails began typing on his computers, desperately searching for a place to land. Even though I could only see the back of it, it was obvious that sweat poured down Tails' head like a waterfall.

Just then, a radio transmission from Dr. Eggman himself came on.

" _HOHOHOHOHOHO! You fools had no idea what I was planning while you were gone! Out of curiosity, I did some research on the Twilight Cage shortly after your departure and I discovered that times flows differently in there compared to here!"_

"Thanks, Captain Obvious!" Sonic snarled. "Shade just told us that!"

" _Oh. Well, there goes my long exposition dump. Anyways, you came back just in time to see the completion of my new Eggman Empire! With this much firepower at my disposal, I can expand my empire across the globe and conquer the world! Mwa-hahahahahahahahahahaha!"_

"Eggman, you dirty rat!" I watched as Amy howled, as she took out her hammer. "I can't believe you tricked us!"

" _I know right! That was really stupid of you guys. I can't believe you actually felt for the whole 'I'm a changed man' routine. That's the oldest trick in the book! Now, before I blow you all to smithereens, I have to thank one person on that ship of yours. Someone who really helped out with this operation… is Shade the Echidna there, by any chance?"_

I really wanted to blench after hearing my name over the radio. What could I have to do with Eggman's plan?

Getting up from my seat, I stomped over and spoke over the radio. "How exactly did I help you with this, Eggman? You're a monster, you and I are nothing alike!"

" _Ah, but we are, Dearest Shade. You see, you sided alongside Imperator Ix, thinking that he wanted to return to Mobius to live a peaceful life. But once he showed his true colors and overpowered you, you decided that you couldn't take him down by yourself, so you dragged these other idiots here with you. What I'm trying to say is… if you were good enough… you could have stopped this from happening. This is… all… your…_ _ **fault**_ _."_

My heart shattered like glass when I heard that for the first time.

" _Thank you for your help, Shade… and goodbye." **(1)**_

With one final hang up, I heard a loud boom in the distance. Looking at the viewfinder, I gasped because a group of conventional guided missiles and anti-ballistic missiles were heading right towards our ship. They blocked out the entirety of the sky, meaning that we had no way out. Tails' eyes widened, as he shot down a few of the missiles, but because of how fast they were coming, he couldn't take down all of them.

"New plan, everyone!" I heard Knuckles shout. Turning around, I saw him open the side door. A gust of wind blew against all of our bodies. "We're getting out of here!"

The rest of my team: Shadow, Rouge, Omega, Cream, and Big leaped out of their seats and all jumped out of the ship one by one. Knuckles guided them all out before he rushed towards Tails, yanked the seatbelt off, and carried the fox to the exit.

"Knuckles, what are you doing!?" Tails shouted.

"Saving your life!" Knuckles yelled back. "Come on, everyone, let's go!"

Sonic grabbed Amy's hand and rushed towards the door and I followed behind. I looked back at the viewfinder to find that the missiles drew closer and closer by the minute.

Gasping, my friends and I jumped out of the ship.

We all screamed at the top of our lungs, as we free fell to the empire that sat below us. From there I was falling, I could see that Metropolis changed for the worse. When the Nocturnus Clan and I took this place over, it was nothing but a ghost town with a few decomposed Badniks we rebuilt from scratch. Now, it was a fully operational city with robots patrolling every block, every corner, and every rooftop.

The sky above us was a maroon red; the color blue was nowhere in sight. The clouds were black from all the smog coming from the factories and orange lights illuminated the sky. I knew exactly what those lights were, and they were horrifying.

But my thoughts on the city's scenery were distracted, as a laser nearly blew my head off.

Below my friends and I, Buzz Bombers and Flappers were trying to shoot us down.

"Hey!" Sonic barked. "Can't you see we're free falling here!?"

"Take them down, team!" Tails commanded.

Everyone did as they were told.

Shadow shot Chaos Spears.

Rouge tossed heart-shaped grenades.

Omega fired everything in his arsenal.

Amy created pink tornados with her hammer.

Cream and Cheese kicked all the enemies in sight.

Big just fell straight down.

Knuckles clobbered Buzz Bombers.

Tails punched multiple Flappers.

Sonic spun around the area, homing attacking more enemies.

And I sunk my leech blades into the nearest Flapper.

Slicing through it like a hot knife through butter, I dismantled all the enemies in my sight. Reaching into my pocket, I took out a grenade, removed the hinge, chucked it at a swam of Buzz Bombers, and watched them explode.

I looked to my left and saw Sonic homing attack a set of three Badniks. I helped him out with another set by launching another grenade. Tails swooped down my left and curled into a ball, spin dashing into a few Buzz Bombers that snuck up behind Amy and Cream.

The wind brushed against my fur and my dreadlocks frolicked as we continued falling. My heart was pounding, and my hands were shaking. My brain felt like I was balling forever; it was anticipating when I would hit the ground.

"Some of you are aware that you can fly, right?" Sonic asked, as he performed a front flip and kicked another Flapper.

"You don't think we know that, Big Blue?" Rouge rolled her eyes. "I'm searching for a safe landing zone. Tails, do you see anything?"

"Not yet!" Tails flew beside me and swatted his tails against a Buzz Bomber.

"What about that spot there?" Shadow pointed in the distance. I looked to where he looked and saw a wide-open spot in the middle of the dystopian city. Surprisingly, it only had four robots that patrolled the street.

"Looks good to me!" I replied. "Everyone, head for that spot!"

The team acknowledged my words and obeyed my command. They all turned to the right and continued free falling.

In front of us, a large jumbotron appeared on top of a tower shaped like Eggman's head. Speaking of which, the mad doctor himself appeared. Sonic and I exchanged a look before we listened to Eggman's message.

" _You won't survive this, Sonic! This time, I will have the last laugh!"_

"In your dreams, Egghead!" Sonic shouted.

" _What?"_

"I said in your dreams!"

" _Could you speak up? I literally can't hear you! There're too many explosions happening!"_

"I said in your… ah, forget it!"

Sonic grabbed onto Tails' hands, as the fox began flying towards out safe spot. Knuckles and I glided through the sky, following close behind then. Cream had to carry Amy and Big (It's amazing how that kid can handle pulling that much weight) and Rouge carried Shadow.

Using his built-in jet boosters, Omega covered our backs by destroying all the Badniks in sight.

"EGGMAN'S ROBOTS WILL BE ELIMINATED!"

"Omega, get back here!" I heard Shadow yell. "We can deal with them later!"

I was shocked to see that such a destructive robot listen to his friend, especially since he was having fun demolishing those robots. He flew to his teammates, as the rest of us finally landed safely on the ground.

Where we were greeted to four Swat Bots.

"These guys don't know when to quit, huh?" Sonic cracked his fingers. He and Knuckles approached the robots, ready to take them down. Whipping out my leech blades again, I twirled them around and waited to strike…

…when suddenly, they Swat Bots were trapped. _**(1s)**_

A cyan bubble wrapped around each of them, trapping them in a static position.

My friends and I were confused. Where did this bubble come from?

And as if we weren't curious enough, flames ignited from the ground and incinerated the robots faster than a speeding bullet; all four drones were destroyed in a split second. Everyone and I jumped back, wondering what just happened.

It appeared that everyone except me knew exactly what caused it because they all smirked at one another.

Then, out of the blue, two mysterious fighters emerged from the shadows.

One of them was a white hedgehog with golden eyes and white, navy, and aqua shoes and gloves. His partner was a lavender cat with a purple dress.

"Who the?" I whispered before Sonic interrupted me.

"Cool! Hey, Silver! Hey, Blaze!" Sonic waved and smiled, as everyone else approached the two heroes.

"Sonic," the cat nodded. "Glad to see that you and the others are okay!"

"Where have you guys been!?" the white hedgehog exclaimed. "You've been gone for a long time!"

"Sorry about that, guys," Knuckles folded his arms. "It's a long story."

The cat and the hedgehog suddenly looked straight at me.

"Who is this?" Blaze pointed.

"Silver, Blaze, this is our new friend, Shade," Tails introduced me. "She's an echidna like Knuckles and she helped us with… well, like Knuckles said, it's a long story."

"Another echidna?" Silver's eyes widened. "Knuckles, I thought you were the last one. It's nice to meet you, Miss Shade. I'm Silver the Hedgehog: a psychokinetic from 200 years into the future."

I'm sorry. Did he just say he was from the future?

"And I'm Blaze the Cat: Princess of the Sol Dimension," the cat shook my hand. "It's an honor to meet another echidna."

She's from another dimension and he's from the future? What's next, a plumber who rescues princesses from giant turtles?

But of course, my many questions were the last thing on my mind.

"Nice to meet you both," I said. "What are you two doing here? Do you know what happened?"

Rubbing her shoulders, the purple cat explained. "Well, the Sol Emeralds: magic gems that come from my world, warned me of a potential disaster happening so I've come to prevent it. Unfortunately, when I arrived, you were nowhere to be seen but I _did_ find out Eggman attacked nearby cities with his robots. I managed to protect the cities and evacuate as many civilians as I could and during the process, I ran into Silver, hoping he'd have some answers as to what was going on."

"I guess now would be a good time to chime in," Silver nodded in agreement. "As I said before, I'm from 200 years into the future, so I came here for the same reason as Blaze minus the Sol Emeralds. So, I do what I always do, go back in time and try to change the past."

"Eggman attacking cities was cruel; however, they don't compare to the embarrassing garbage he tried to pull on us. He tried to convince us into thinking you abandoned Mobius. But thankfully, no one believed him."

"Abandon Mobius?" Sonic inquired.

Silver shook his head with a deadpanned look on his face. "Even Metal Sonic made a slideshow called _'How Sonic Abandoned Mobius,"_ which was just a two-minute video drawn in colored pencil. So Eggman just decided to go with the usual _'build a superweapon to rule the world'_ trope."

" _Pfft_ , colored pencils," Sonic rolled his eyes. "He couldn't even afford crayons."

"This sounds serious," I replied. "What type of weapon is he making?"

Blaze pointed to the tower behind her. "He's developing a cannon that's going to shoot pods into multiple cities around the planet. Inside those pods are an infinite swarm of indestructible Badniks. Rumor has it that they're so powerful, the combined power of all seven Chaos Emeralds can't depower them."

"Well, you know what they say, never trust rumors," Sonic cracked his fingers. "Let's just get up there and stop Eggman like we always do!"

Amy twirled her hammer and stood beside me. "I couldn't agree more."

Reaching for my blades, I was about to add to Sonic's remark with a snarky comment of my own (Though, knowing me, it would've been cringy) before a clap broke my concentration.

That single noise was added by more clapping noises, followed by cheerful whistles.

My team looked both left and right and saw several Mobians pop out of piles of rubble. I assumed they were hiding from Eggman's machines and they did nothing but support us. From whistles to claps to people taking their shirts off and waving them around, it was clear everyone was on our side…

…at least that's what I thought.

"Hey! Hold on a second!" someone shouted. I looked in his direction and saw that he was a white tiger with a blue jacket and a red beanie. Emerging from the debris, the tiger approached me before he jumped back in fear. "H-hey! What's _she_ doing here with you guys!?"

The other civilians stopped their positive outbursts and froze.

A thousand eyes were pointed at me; angry eyes were all I could see.

What was wrong with them? Did I say something? What was going on?

The rest of my team wondered the same exact thing, but soon enough, I figured out that everyone wasn't starring at my face… they were staring at my armor.

Why? Because it had symbols of my former team printed all over it.

I remember that during my time on Mobius, back when I lead the Marauder forces into combat, a couple of newscasters followed us around with video cameras. They were trying to expose us to the media, which I couldn't afford. Lord Ix told me that I needed to work in the shadows, which I did to an extent. In other words, I didn't let the media see my face.

But unfortunately, they must've gotten the rest of my armor on video.

"She's one of the Marauders!" a pink female bird pointed. "What she's doing here?"

"I can't believe it!" the white tiger added. "She's the one who opened that portal and took Sonic to that other dimension! You know, you nearly got us killed down here! Why'd you have to take Sonic away from us, huh!? If it weren't for you, Sonic and the others could've saved us from Eggman!"

"Yeah!" a red ox grunted at me; steam poured from his nose. "This is all your fault!"

That's twice I heard that today. First from Eggman, now from the civilians.

I'm starting to wonder if I was the cause of this. Think about it, I could've taken on my clan by myself without backup. But then again, I wasn't sure if I would've stood a chance against their advanced technology. I needed Sonic's help, so could you blame me for that?

The civilians grabbed a few spears and pitch forks from the side and started coming towards me. I gasped and wrapped my fingers around my leech blades. With an iron grip on my weapons, I was ready to defend myself when Knuckles, Sonic, Amy, and Rouge stepped in front of me.

"Hold on there, people," Rouge said calmly. "Let's not go this route, shall we?"

"Calm down, everyone!" Amy pleaded. "It's not Shade's fault. She needed our help. She couldn't have taken on the Nocturnus Clan by herself."

"Really?" a white-colored snake hissed. "I've seen her fight on the news and from the way I saw it, she could've easily ripped that clan a new one!"

"Relax, dudes and dudettes," Sonic reassured the people. "This isn't a safe way to resolve this. Look, Eggman's up there with a dangerous invention and starting an angry mob over Shade's not gonna do anything. My team and I are gonna go up there and stop that ball of egg salad from destroying our world and Shade's coming with us! Come on, guys! We gotta do it to it!"

In the speed of light, Sonic the Hedgehog took off with Team Dark by his side. Amy, Cream, and Big rushed after him whereas Tails and Knuckles helped me away from the civilians.

Silver and Blaze flew through the air, chasing after their friends while I was met with angry stares.

"This is all your fault!"

"You're the reason Eggman did this!"

"If you were good enough, you would've defeated the Marauders yourself!"

Insults were thrown like baseballs and they kept hitting me one by one. Knuckles and Tails got me out of the mob before we started running down the street. As I looked over my shoulder, I saw that multiple people were snarling and mumbling under their breaths. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but they were probably saying things no different than before.

Noticing me staring at them, Knuckles looked at me and let out a small smile.

"Don't listen to them," he said. "You needed help… there's nothing wrong with that."

I didn't want to say it… but I'm starting to believe there _was_ something wrong with that.

Rushing down the road, Tails, Knuckles, and I managed to catch up to everyone else. _**(2)**_

We kept running down the road, quickly approaching the tower before Eggman's face popped up on the jumbotron again.

" _You've got to be joking!"_ he laughed at us as if we were dressed as clowns. _"You think you can just walk into my domain!?"_

"Only joke here is that ridiculous haircut you have, Egghead!" Sonic quipped. "Oh, wait a minute!"

" _You little rodent!_ " Dr. Eggman shook his fist. _"Guards! Destroy them! Don't let them get inside!"_

With that said, the metal doors opened slowly, and an armada of robots crawled out of the shadows. Charging towards us like a pack of hungry wolves, the robots started firing projectiles towards us.

Sonic and Tails grabbed each other's wrists and curled into a ball. They spin dashed right into a pack of robots like a bowling ball striking down a set of pins.

Like the duo we are, Knuckles and I used our brute strength to tear Egg Pawns limb from limb. I chucked a grenade at one of these turtle-like robots and watched it explode. I then tossed another grenade into the air, Knuckles grabbed it, threw it as hard as he could, and blew up a set of Buzz Bombers and Egg Pawns.

The two of us watched as Sonic and Tails formed a yellow and blue tornado around a larger enemy called an Egg Hammer, as Amy and her team entered the tornado, spun around, and struck the Egg Hammer down on the ground.

Silver and Blaze combined their powers together and pierced through thirteen Swat Bots in a fiery cyan bubble. The latter skidded across the ground and shielded Shadow from an incoming missile. The black hedgehog nodded to her before he launched a Chaos Spear into the Badnik's chest. Omega flew around the city, blowing up anything he saw whereas Rouge joined Shadow in clearing the pathway. Knuckles and I helped them out, but despite our combined efforts, more enemies kept showing up. Luckily, Sonic, Tails, and Team Rose swooped by and flooded the enemies away from us. Shadow and Silver curled into balls and homed in on several Egg Pawns. Sonic helped them out while Tails carried Amy through the area; the latter created pink tornados with her hammer before she was chucked into an Egg Hammer's chest. Slamming his head in, Amy tore the Badnik apart with ease. Big jumped up and slammed his chest against three Egg Pawns and Cream and Cheese kicked Flappers away from me and Knuckles.

" _Are you all stupid!?"_ Dr. Eggman scowled at his creations. _"You're letting them destroy you! They're getting closer to the tower! Stop them or I'll turn you all into toaster ovens!... darn it! Now you all made me hungry!"_

I shared a smile with Sonic when that came out.

The pathway to the tower became clear, as we all started to dash towards the door.

" _So, you wish to face me yourself, huh, Sonic? Very well… if it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get." **(2s)**_

* * *

 _~Shade's P.O.V. (Continued)_

The tower's walls were covered in nothing but metal and the only thing illuminating the darkness was a set of red lights shaped like Eggman's head, and they casted shadows of the same shape. I have to admit, those lights were creepy. Even though the Eggman face on them was just him smiling, it looked evil. Even the goofiest of villains can be somewhat diabolical. At least, that's how I saw it.

Everyone slowly tip-toed around the room, searching for the culprit of this mess.

Team Sonic, Team Rose, and Team Dark stuck together whereas I got paired up with Silver and Blaze. All twelve of us continued walking when suddenly…

…another jumbotron showcased Eggman's face.

" _I know I said this before, but it's still hard to believe all of you thought I was a changed man,"_ he began, as he looked at his gloved fingers. He sat up straight and glared at us. _"But I must admit, I wasn't lying the whole time… when the Nocturnus Clan reactivated my old machines for their personal use, I knew that I needed some help in getting back access to them… I tried sending Metal Sonic after them, but he proved to be no use. But when you all stumbled into my hidden lair in Green Hill Zone, the solution to my problem had been found. All I had to do was somehow get rid of you before I could get my machines back and start work on my new empire. Ha! My own genius can scare me sometimes."_

"Well, the Nocturnus Clan are gone, Eggman, and we're back!" Tails snarled. "Tricking the people into believing we abandoned them was going too far! And with that, we're taking you down!"

"You got one chance to stand down before you know what happens!" Knuckles clapped his fists together.

" _Your taunts don't scare me, Knuckles,"_ Dr. Eggman chuckled. _"Not anymore at least… As much as I hate to do this, but I'm going to give you all one final chance. A chance to just walk away alive or…"_

The jumbotron shut itself down in a flash, leaving the room dark again.

But then lights shined down on us one by one, leaving us to wonder what was happening next. Our answer came to us in the form a large red curtain with a black Eggman symbol on both sides. The curtain ascended upward, revealing the shadow of a bull on the other side. Yellow eyes popped out of the shadows and steam came out of the figure's nose, as it slowly walked forward, which caused the ground to shake. It made me feel like an earthquake was about to happen.

We all looked up in astonishment.

With a red, yellow, and silver paint job, Dr. Eggman showed off a mechanical contraption in the form of a bull. Its horns were as sharp as a sword and the demonic eyes stared deep into our souls. Its silver hooves planted themselves on the ground, as more steam poured from its nostrils.

Everyone, including myself, got down into battle positions; we were ready for a fight.

"You can face the inevitable," Dr. Eggman finished his sentence from before, as he took a bow and sat down in his chair. He closed the cockpit that was placed on top of the bull's head. "How do you like my new pet? I call it _The Egg Bull!_ "

"Wow, creative name," Tails said, sarcastically.

"He's ready to charge into action and trust me when I say this," Dr. Eggman snarled. "No one will be spared!"

"Wait, did you just make a pun?" Sonic inquired with a chuckle. I was about to ask the same question, but of course, he beat me to it. "Oh, my goodness! Eggman just made a pun!"

"Oh, be quiet!" The Egg Bull lifted its upper body and slammed its feet on the floor. It charged up the back of its feet and ran towards us. "Prepare to die, Sonic the Hedgehog!" _**(3)**_

Like ninjas, we all jumped to the side, which allowed the Egg Bull to crash into the wall. Scraps of metal and two pipes fell from the ceiling and onto the ground. Rouge and I shared a glance before we took out two grenades. The Egg Bull turned around and prepared to strike before we threw the bombs at the cockpit.

Smoke fogged Eggman's point of view, which caused him to scream. But it also made his machine crash into the walls. The Egg Bull then tipped over and landed on its side, giving us a chance to strike.

"Hey, stop that!" Dr. Eggman shouted, as everyone landed multiple blows on the machine. "Get off me! Stop it! Do you not know how much these parts cost? I gotta order online, get them custom made, and… wait, what am I saying!? Buzz off!"

The Egg Bull eventually got back up and slammed all of its hooves on the ground. A shock wave blew us all back a few feet, as we heard the beast bellow out a loud roar.

Dr. Eggman slammed his fist against the controls. "Robots! Get down here! Keep some of them distracted!"

A squadron of Swat Bots, Egg Pawns, Camerons, and Spinners emerged and ran towards us.

Team Dark, Silver, Blaze, Tails, Cream, and Big rushed over to keep the Badniks off of us. Amy, Knuckles, Sonic, and I were left to deal with our primary target.

The Egg Bull charged forward again, this time, it shot out homing missiles that locked onto us. Luckily, we all drifted out of the way, as I launched a few more grenades at the Egg Bull. I missed the cockpit and only hit the sides. It did frustrate me a bit; however, I was able to land a good shot thanks to Amy. In other words, I called out to her and threw the grenade. Like a professional baseball player, she hurled the bomb and it landed against the cockpit, blinding its pilot.

"What a cliché weak spot for your robot, Egghead," Sonic quipped. "It's like you want us to win."

"Nonsense!" Dr. Eggman retorted. "You haven't seen this machine's full power yet!"

The Egg Bull crashed into the wall again and fell down and we landed a few strikes on its body.

And just like before, we flew backward thanks to a shock wave. The Egg Bull got up and fired lock on missiles as well as flash grenades.

As I did my best to evade every attack, I heard Dr. Eggman speak to me.

"You know, Shade, you really do have the potential to be part of the Eggman Empire. This _was_ your doing after all. As I said before, I really should thank you for all of this. If you didn't take Sonic into the Twilight Cage, my empire wouldn't be where it is now. I know I'm about to kill you now, but you can always change your mind."

I couldn't believe he was trying to persuade me.

Sinking my blades into a Spinner's back, I lashed out and said, "You really think I'm going to join you after all the things I've done in the past!? No way, Eggman! You must be out of your mind!"

"But evil runs through the course of your body, Shade, you can't deny it," he turned his attention to the red echidna. "Knuckles, you're so gullible, so innocent, so stupid. I love how you see the good in people, but not the bad. In other words, it's weird to believe you would trust Shade."

"Shade's my friend, Eggman!" Knuckles punched the Egg Bull across the face. "Of course I trust her!"

"But why?" Dr. Eggman inquired, as he chased us down with more homing missiles. "If I'm not mistaken, wasn't she the one who killed your ancestors four millennials ago?"

Knuckles paused for a quick moment and looked at me; I looked back. It was true that I did hurt his ancestors, but it was Perfect Chaos who finished the job. At first, I thought he was going to scold me for what I did, as I now felt regret for my actions in the past. But because of who he was inside, he shook his head and shouted the same thing I was thinking.

"Perfect Chaos killed the Knuckles Clan, not Shade!"

"But she did kill some of them," Dr. Eggman sneered. "Even though Emerl was the leader of the Gizoid army, Shade was technically the one who lead them into victory. She's Imperator Ix's second in command. She ruthlessly murdered your family in cold blood. If it weren't for her, maybe… just maybe… you'd have parents to go home to."

" _SHUT UP!_ " Knuckles grabbed a boulder and smacked the Egg Bull's side, causing it to fall down.

"Don't deny it, Knuckles. Shade's got an evil bone in her body!"

"Quiet!" I grunted, as I slashed my blades against the cockpit.

But Dr. Eggman cackled. "What's the matter, Shade? Am I getting to you? Striking a nerve is not my intention, mind you. I'm just telling the honest truth. You took Sonic and the others into the Twilight Cage because deep down inside the cold-blooded heart… you're nothing but a coward, a coward who prefers to have others fight her own battles."

I sunk my blade into the cockpit, making a crack in the glass.

And Eggman continued to taunt me.

"Your friends may fight alongside you now, but what will happen when all of this is over?... Will they accept you into their clan or will they label you as the villain you've been since day one."

No, I couldn't let his words get to me! I had to fight back! But it was difficult for me to do so because his threats were burning through my skin. Why was this happening? I'm supposed to be a fearless warrior, why am I letting this poor excuse for a supervillain strike my nerves? Unfortunately, my rambling thoughts caused me to get distracted, as Dr. Eggman took out a laser blaster and held me down at gunpoint. He was about to shoot me, when Sonic and Knuckles tackled him and pinned him to the ground.

Amy smashed the Egg Bull's controls. And Tails and the others dealt with the remaining Badniks.

With Knuckles landing a good punch against Eggman's stomach, the battle had finally ended. Sonic and Knuckles picked Eggman up on his feet and tossed him over to Shadow and Rouge. Omega cracked his fingers and unleashed an armada of missiles, rocket launchers, and other deadly explosives; he was ready to give Eggman what he thought he deserved.

"EGGMAN MUST BE EVISCERATED!"

"Hold on, Omega," Shadow halted the assault drone, as he grabbed Eggman by the V-neck. "Tell us how to disable those Badnik pods! _NOW!_ "

The mad doctor cackled. "It's a complicated process, Shadow. I'm afraid you're going to need someone with _my_ level of expertise to do that."

"I'll go find the machine," Tails nodded, as he, Cream, Big, Omega, and Rouge went to find the computer room. "You guys watch Eggman."

"You don't need to tell me twice," Shadow replied. "You're lucky Omega's not dealing with you, Eggman. Knowing him, he would've killed you by now."

"Mwa-hahahahahahaha! I'm not scared of you, Shadow the Hedgehog. You're nothing but an emo edge-"

Before he could finish, the black hedgehog knocked his arch-nemesis out cold. _**(3s)**_

Sonic silently chuckled once he saw that.

Knuckles, Amy, Silver, and Blaze were relieved once that happened.

"I'm getting really sick of those edge lord jokes," Shadow snarled. "What is an edge lord anyway?"

"Probably best you didn't know," Sonic patted him on the back.

As everyone else joined in and exchanged high-fives, I was left to think.

I hated to admit it, but Eggman was right. I was a coward and I am a villain. Think about it, I ruthlessly murdered fifty percent of the Knuckles Clan decades ago, I foolishly attacked Knuckles and Tails in the forest, I attempted to kill Sonic numerous times, and I had the gall to bring him to an alternate dimension when he could have stayed here with his friends. They could have prevented all of this from happening.

Silver and Blaze wouldn't have left.

Those civilians wouldn't have hidden underneath all that garbage.

And this world wouldn't have fallen victim to Eggman's tyranny.

What have I done?

I guess I really am responsible for this.

None of this would've happened if I hadn't been such a coward. I should have gone into the Twilight Cage by myself.

Placing my leech blades back in my holster, I looked at the metallic ground, seeing the reflection of an ignorant girl who was too stupid to realize that she hurt her friends and she had no way of apologizing to them. The girl in the mirror was suddenly comforted by her closest friends; a red echidna and a blue hedgehog.

"Yo, Shade," said Sonic. "After we clean up Metropolis, you wanna get a chili dog with me and Amy? They're the best food you'll every try! They're delicious! Just sprinkle some bacon bits and add some nacho cheese and mmm-mm, you have yourself heaven on a hot dog."

I didn't respond.

"Shade?" Knuckles inquired. He was about to pat my shoulder, when I gently smacked his hand aside. I stood back, not wanting to come closer to them.

"S-stay back," I whispered.

"Are you all right?" Blaze asked. "Is something wrong?"

"Stay away from me," I answered. "I-I'm a monster… don't come anywhere near me."

"Shade, relax," Sonic said calmly. "It's okay. Don't tell me all that stuff Eggman said is getting to you."

"He's right… this is my fault. I shouldn't have asked for your help."

"You made the right call," Knuckles said. "Taking the Nocturnus Clan on by yourself would've been suicide. You made the right choice."

"A choice that nearly destroyed this wonderous planet! My actions almost caused the destruction of this world. All the plants, animals, people, and everything else could've been erased from existence all because of me!" I shouted at the top of my lungs, as I felt a drop of water pour down my cheek. Knuckles and the others were stunned. "P-please… just stay away from me… I don't want to hurt you anymore."

Everyone was silent. They all exchanged a few glances before they slowly walked towards me.

But before they could do anything to comfort me, I dropped a smoke bomb against the ground and leaped into the air. I grabbed onto a pipe and hid in the shadows, hoping that none of them would spot me.

When the smoke cleared, everyone coughed and wiped the air.

They noticed that I wasn't there.

"Shade?" Amy asked with concern, as she searched the area for me. "Shade!?... Shade, where did you go!?"

"Now's not the time to play hide and seek, Shade," Sonic added. "Come on out!"

"Lay off, Sonic!" Knuckles shoved Sonic's shoulder. "This isn't the time for jokes!"

"Calm down, Knucklehead! I wasn't trying to-"

"Relax, you two," Shadow interjected, getting between the interlocutors. "Sonic, it's clear that Shade is upset, so that joke wasn't appropriate. Knuckles, as I said, Shade is upset about something… perhaps it's best to give her some space. I could tell all of that stuff Eggman spewed pushed her buttons… maybe she needs some time to cool off."

I saw the sorrowful look on Knuckles' face. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

This gave me the perfect opportunity to open the window and make my escape, but as soon as I opened it, I turned and saw Sonic place a hand on the echidna's shoulder.

"Don't worry, Knux," he smiled. "Shade will come around. And then you and her can get a chance to hang out together."

"You better not be making a couples joke," Knuckles snarled.

"Believe me, I got a million of them up my sleeve, but I'm not gonna use them now… trust me when I say this, Shade will come back and realize that all of this wasn't her fault…"

"What if she doesn't?"

"Well… then I'm sure you and her will meet again someday."

Lowering my head in shame, I opened the window and made my escape, making sure that they would never see my again.

 _~End of P.O.V. **(4)**_

* * *

 _~Present Day_

"S-Shade… I… I… That wasn't your fault," said Knuckles. He remembered everything about that flashback and was amazed that Shade didn't leave out a single detail. "Eggman was taunting you, he always does that. What he said isn't true."

"No, Knuckles, it _is_ true… if I had just gone into the Twilight Cage by myself, you and your friends would have lived peacefully… If I had known that my clan was up to something, I would've stopped them in an instant."

"But then you and I would've never met."

"Exactly."

"What?"

"Knuckles, can't you see that I'm angry with myself? I'm mad because not only did my stupidity nearly kill you and your friends, but it almost caused the destruction of your world! This beautiful world where humans and Mobians can live equally, where plants could grow, and where heroes do what they can to stop villains from disrupting world peace… My mistakes nearly destroyed everything that's here."

"But you had no idea of Ix's imperialistic goals. He tricked you. We've all been tricked! You won't believe how many times Eggman tricked me in the past."

"That's different. Eggman is a mere dullard whereas Ix was a blood-thirsty warlord. He stops at nothing to get what he wants, even if he has to dispose of his weakest allies. Or in my case… the strongest."

"Still, that's all in the past now. Ix and the Nocturnus Clan are defeated and you're free now. You performing on stage clearly showed how happy you are being here."

"I am happy… but… not a day goes by where I don't think of the things I've done to you and your friends. That's why I've been so distant for the longest time. I can't look at you and the others without remembering Eggman's words. This is… all… your…"

Tears began to pour down the orange echidna's eyes.

Knuckles' jaw slowly dropped.

"Fault." Shade whispered, as she leaned her head against the table. Burying her face in her hands, she allowed tears to flow down her cheeks like a river. But she wiped them away because she didn't want Knuckles to see this side of her. It was embarrassing for her.

But Knuckles didn't care because he wanted to comfort his friend. He leaned in closer and tenderly spoke. "Shade… I want you to know what none of us feel the way you think we do. Amy was excited to see you here; she didn't say she hated you. Tails and Sonic were hoping you'd join our team. Our new recruit, Tangle, thought you were awesome… nobody hates you for what you did, Shade. In fact, you didn't do anything at all. Don't take this the wrong way, but if you went toe-to-toe with the Nocturnus Clan by yourself, you would have gotten killed. Dragging us to the Twilight Cage was the right thing to do and guess what, we saved the world when we came back. We were all gonna celebrate, but then you left… we didn't feel like celebrating our victory without you."

Shade wiped her puffy eyes and looked at her friend.

"Shade… you're part of our team. We need you… _I_ need you."

Hearing those words flow through her mind, the orange echidna's tears continued to flow down her cheeks. She folded her arms and turned back around, not wanting him to see her cry more.

"I… can't be there… not this time, Knuckles… I'm sorry, but I can't… If I go back, I'll just have those thoughts ramble through my head again… I won't allow that."

The red echidna's hopes began to go down. "Shade-"

"Just go."

"What?"

"Go… I want you to leave… now."

"But Shade-"

"Are you deaf or something!? _Get out of here_!"

Knuckles jumped back after that snarl. His heart almost popped out of his chest and his eyes widened. Shade wasn't in the mood to talk anymore and he had to accept that. Being the good man he is, Knuckles respected her wishes and nodded his head. Placing his tea cup on the table, he got up from his chair and walked towards the door. He turned around and watched Shade lean against the kitchen sink.

As he opened the door, he turned around and took a deep breath.

"Shade."

"Hmm?"

"…some things are just beyond our control… if we continue living in the past, we'll just be more miserable."

Knuckles walked out the door, closing it behind him.

Shade the Echidna sat by herself.

Grunting and groaning in anger, she smacked a tea cup against the wall, watching glass fragments scatter her wooden floor. She flipped the table over and stabbed her leech blade into the ground. Before she knew it, she kicked open the closet door and was greeted by a familiar face from her past.

Her Nocturnus Clan uniform sat inside.

Staring at it and remembering all of the torture she was put through back then; Shade yanked her costume off the hanger and chucked it against the wall.

It slid against the wall before it laid flat on the ground.

Shade got down on her knees and slammed her fist on the ground.

More tears escaped from her eyes and her crying resumed.

Sitting on her rear, Shade curled into a ball and continued to let out her feelings.

 _Knuckles, Sonic, Tails, Amy, Cream, Big… I'm sorry._ She dejectedly thought, as she let more tears escape from her eyes. _**(4s)**_

 _ **END OF CHAPTER 27**_

 _ **Thank you to all of those who have served our country. We know it wasn't easy, but we thank you for your service. May God bless you all.**_

* * *

 _So much for Shade's epic return. All right, all right, before all of you start throwing stones and chasing me with pitch forks, let me just say that I plan for Shade to return near the third act of the story. Keep in mind, we're still in the second act, so this won't be the last we see of Shade. She will return soon. I apologize if Shade was OOC in this chapter, as I wanted to play with the character's emotions. Thanks to you know who, we never got a chance to see what Shade's personality was like outside of Sonic Chronicles, so I had to go with my gut on this chapter. If you like it, great! If you hated what I did, then I apologize._

 _While Shade takes some time to clear her mind, Knuckles will make her return and realize what kind of plan the Resistance has up their sleeve involving Synergy. Tune in next time, as we begin our next story arc in..._

 _"Chapter 28: Around the World in Three Days: Part 1."_

* * *

 ** _POST-A/N:_**

 _I always pictured Silver and Blaze being involved in the events of Sonic Chronicles 2 since Eggman's takeover would affect Silver's timeline and it would also concern Blaze and the Sol Emeralds. Originally, a joke with them and Eggman Nega was supposed to be here (credit goes to SharpDragonKlaw for the idea) but I scrapped it because I wanted to save it for my other Sonic story, Sonic Heroes: The Atom Bomb._

 _The Egg Bull is an original creation I came up with unless there is another Egg Bull out there I didn't know about. Regardless, I had a lot of fun making that fight, as I inspired it from the Clayface fight from Batman: Arkham City (Arkham Knight was meh and I hate that it was meh)_

 _As always, thanks so much for taking time to read! Don't forget to R &R and I'll see you all next time! ;) Peace out, web-heads!_

 _~SD321 (SpiderDom321)_


	28. Around the World in Three Days: Pt 1

_**A/N:** Happy late new year, everyone! Sorry it's been so long since I've last updated. I've been battling a small state of depression lately as well as trying to get my priorities in order. Also, I've finished my first semester of College and I'm awaiting to see what the Spring Semester unfolds for me. Until that happens, I want to thank you all for being here since day one! We've reached **25 favorites** and nearly **130 reviews** for Awakened. Guys, this means so much to me._

 _As of now, the whole story of Awakened is written down on my notepad, where I have a fully organized plot. So, expect some updates for this story for a while before I return to my other stories on here as well as my original content like Night Shadow._

 _Before anyone asks, Yes, I've seen the Sonic Movie 2020 design and trailer! You can expect me at the movie theater on opening night! As for the IDW Sonic comics, they're the best things that've happened to Sonic right now and I feel so bad for Cream, Tails, Amy, G-merl, Espio, Whisper, and everyone else that's battling their way through the Zombots. My only concern is the Deadly Six. I hope Ian Flynn writes them well, but knowing him, I'm sure he'll do something to make them cool._

 _Special thanks to my lovely co-writer, Infinite's Ruby for her help as always!_

 ** _Suggested Music:_**

 ** _(1) Mazuri (Day) - Sonic Unleashed OST_**

 ** _(2) Mazuri (Night) - Sonic Unleashed OST_**

 ** _(3) Savannah Citadel - Sonic Unleashed OST_**

 ** _(4) Spagonia (Night) - Sonic Unleashed OST_**

 _Without further ado, enjoy the show!_

* * *

 **Around the World in Three Days: Part 1**

A beautiful morning meant the Resistance had to start thinking about their next move. They all gathered by a table in the middle of the museum, where bagels, scrambled eggs, bacon, and more breakfast foods were served by Tangle and Jewel. They joined their teammates in their meeting, as Tails took out a piece of paper and a pencil and set them on the table.

"Okay, guys," Amy said, grabbing the paper and pencil. "We only have three days to turn Synergy into a good guy. How are we gonna do that?"

"Perhaps we could take him around town for a bit," Tangle suggested. "We got all sorts of wonders here besides the museum. I know this guy named Ron and let me tell ya, he makes the best chili dogs in the universe! Oh, my gosh! They're so delicious! He cooks them with a lot of love!"

"Can I get this guy's phone number?" Sonic inquired with a smirk.

"That idea's not bad, Tangle," Amy replied. "But G-merl's already taking Synergy out for a walk on the town. Don't worry, they're wearing disguises, so they won't be noticed. We gotta work bigger. Also, last time I checked; robots can't eat."

"But hedgehogs can!" the blue blur licked his lips.

" _Big, what was your initial plan for Synergy before we came along?"_ Whisper inquired. _"Before the Hooligans came, you said you had a plan."_

"Hey, look, Mates. We said we were sorry, okay?" Nack moaned.

"Well… my plan was to take Synergy around the world, so he could see my favorite places," Big replied. "After Apotos, I was gonna take him to Spagonia, Mazuri, Holoska, Chun-nan, Shamar, Empire City, and Adabat. All of my favorite places in the world."

"Hold on, you want to take him to all those continents in three days?" Nack raised an eyebrow. "Have you been sniffing catnip lately?"

"Now, come on, big bossy smelly nelly," Bean chuckled. "I'm sure we can pull this off."

"Easy for you to say! Going to all those places is A) expensive! B) time-consuming! And C) Need I remind you that G.U.N. is on our tail! We'll never get around the world without being bombarded with soldiers going, _'Hey, you! Stop right there! I'm gonna shoot you! Boom! Aggggh!'_ and then we're dead!"

Everyone looked curiously at Nack.

"Wow," Bean whispered in Bark's ear. "And I thought I was crazy."

"I think you guys are overthinking this," Tangle smiled. "Nobody said anything about spending money on transportation nor did anyone say that we all have to go at once."

"What are you saying, Tangle?" Espio asked, sipping his coffee.

"I'm saying that we should all split up. Each time goes to one continent with Synergy for about six hours or so. We'll show him the most we can before he heads over to the next continent. Sonic could be his mode of transportation because he's the only one who has super speed."

"Well, what can I say? I _am_ pretty awesome," Sonic gloated.

"And we have the Chaos Emeralds," Vector added. "Can't forget those doohickeys."

"That doesn't sound like a bad idea, Tangle. Actually, it's genius!" Amy clapped her hands. "The only thing we need to figure out is which team goes to which continent. Obviously, Synergy's been to Apotos so we can cross that one off our list. That leaves seven continents."

" _How many of us are here?"_ asked Whisper.

"Counting G-merl," Tails replied. "There's eighteen of us."

Suddenly, the door opened, and everyone turned.

Knuckles the Echidna came into the room. He had a saddened look upon his face.

"Nineteen if you count Knuckles," Tails continued.

"Hey, Knux," Sonic smiled and waved. "Good to see you again. You won't believe what happened yesterday."

"Shadow, Rouge, and Omega left. Amy told me on the phone last night," Knuckles replied, rubbing his eyes. He leaned against the wall and released a deep sigh.

The Resistance exchanged looks, wondering what was wrong with their leader.

"Hey!" Amy broke up the sudden tension with a smile. "How'd things go with Shade?"

Knuckles closed his eyes and looked at the pink hedgehog. "Let's just say… she's not coming back."

Everyone on the team was shocked and concerned.

"Is she okay?" Tails inquired.

"She blames herself for what happened after we came back from the Twilight Cage. She thinks we're mad at her for dragging us into another dimension when we could've been here protecting Mobius from Eggman."

"Did you tell her that was paranoia talking?" Mighty rubbed his head.

"I told her that wasn't true, but it was obvious she's in a lot of pain… I figured I'd let her cool down for a while. But one thing's for certain, she's not coming back to help us out."

The Resistance felt Knuckles' pain and felt sorrow for Shade. They didn't think someone as tough as their former ally would go through the motions. Mighty and Ray approached their old friend and patted him on the shoulder, trying to reassure him. Knuckles smiled and rubbed the yellow squirrel's head before he turned his attention to Amy and the others.

His purple eyes locked onto the Hooligans.

"I didn't expect to see you three here," he commented.

Nack folded his arms. "We're just trying not to get arrested, that's all."

"Yeah, we forgot to mention," Sonic spoke. "G.U.N.'s on our tail."

"Amy told me that too," Knuckles replied. "She also told me you guys plan to take Synergy around the world. Would you mind explaining what _that's_ about?"

Tails placed his hands together. "So, Big's logic is that if we turn Synergy in now, he'll retain his anger upon the world and swear revenge when he gets out. But if we find a way to alter his personality like we did with Emerl years ago, then he'll understand that he needs to pay for his crimes and go to jail willingly."

"You really believe that, Big?"

"The last thing I would want for Synergy is for him to be angry," Big nodded. "He's mean when he's angry."

The red echidna looked at his blue rival/friend. "You think this can work?"

"I'm hoping so," Sonic shrugged his shoulders.

Knuckles stepped forward and looked at the paper that was on the desk; it was a group chart that showed every continent around Mobius and which team is assigned to which continent.

Grabbing for a pencil, he added his name underneath Chun-Nan.

"Count me in," he said.

The Resistance smiled; they were happy that their leader was on board, as they continued planning out their idea.

* * *

 _~Synergy's P.O.V. **(1)**_

As if spending the day roaming around Spiral Hill wasn't enough, Emerl (I know his name is G-merl, but I still call him Emerl) and I came back to the museum, only to find out that the Resistance had news. Turns out, they've decided to put the deal I made with them into full effect. The deal was that they'd show me around Mobius in three days. If I liked what I saw, then I will give up my search for the Nocturnus Clan and live among the common folk. If it's the opposite, then the Resistance promised to take me back to the Mystic Ruins and search for my people.

After sparring with Emerl the other night, I thought of giving this deal a chance.

 _How bad can it be?_ I thought. _They're probably going to take you to some small villages or something._

No, they didn't take me to any quaint towns like Spiral Hill…

…they went bigger.

Thanks to Sonic's super speed, the first place I was brought to was another continent, where we settled in a town named Mazuri. I was there with Emerl and Tails and I have to say, it was beautiful.

The sun was shining, and a single cloud wasn't in sight. There wasn't a lot of industrialization like there was in other places. Instead, the village I was currently visiting was located on a reddish-brown savannah and featured many exotic animals. There were lions, tigers, hippos, rhinos, zebras, etc. All of the animals I interacted with seemed nice, although I was convinced that one of the rhinos wanted to hurt me. Not sure why, but I think it did.

Anyways, after experiencing a tour of the Savannah Citadel, Tails, Emerl, and I returned back to a remote village with small houses built from wood and straw and people wearing strange clothing.

It felt foreign to me because some clothing was made from rich silk and cloth. People were wearing it all over their bodies and they even wore silk hats that covered their bald heads. It was quite foreign for me to say the least.

As Emerl, Tails, and I scoped through the village, I found myself distracted by a huge shadow that loomed over me. I looked up to see what it was and was quickly astonished…

…by a giant tree that sat in the hub of the village.

"My goodness!" I shouted. "W-what the!?"

Emerl noticed my amazement and walked over to me. "Something wrong, Synergy?" he chuckled.

"T-this tree!" I pointed. "I-It's huge!"

Emerl looked up at what I was pointing at and chuckled again. "Oh, that's just the Holy Tree. Cool, huh?"

The two-tailed fox approached us and looked at the tree. "Ah, I see you've noticed the Holy Tree, eh, Synergy? It's a massive landmark in this town. It was built by the ancients as a symbol of the culture as well as the religion that's spread throughout this village."

"Interesting," I rubbed the back of my head. "I've seen a lot of trees in my day, but none of them are as big as this."

"You'd be surprised as to how big some landmarks here are," Tails nodded. It was at that moment where he heard something in the distance. _**(1s)**_

 _ **(2)**_ A smooth harmonic melody played through the air and grabbed our attention. We turned around to the right and saw a band of musicians playing right by a giant doorway in the Holy Tree.

At first, I was going to ask why there was a secret room in the middle of the tree and how it got there, but the melody distracted me from my query. I joined my colleagues in running towards the music; it got louder as we got closer.

Eventually, we came to a sudden stop and watched as many people gathered around us.

A band of five people was playing music through wooden instruments whereas one man was banging two sticks against a set of wooden drums. We didn't have a lot of music back in the Nocturnus Clan, but once in a while, I would always remember hearing the Knuckles Clan playing around with instruments similar to these.

People joined together and clapped their hands to the beat of the drums.

Tails and Emerl looked at each other and did the same.

I was reluctant to join at first but after hearing everyone do this for a while, I decided why not. But instead of clapping my hands, I snapped my fingers. I figured this was a beat that required me to do this with my hands. But little did I know, I was bopping my head to the beat too. The music was so soothing that I also found myself tapping my foot, and I couldn't believe I didn't notice it at first. And as if I wasn't enjoying myself enough, I started shifting my body to the left and right, snapping my fingers, and tapping my robotic feet against the soft soil on the ground.

My comrades and I were enjoying ourselves for a while when suddenly…

…the music came to a stop. _**(2s)**_

I was left dancing for a few moments until I opened my eyes and saw that everyone was staring at me.

This left me feeling concerned.

 _Did I do something wrong?_ I thought. _Was there something wrong with my dancing? What did I do?_

One of the band members, a female in a red dress and a blue cap over her head, approached me and gazed into my green eyes. I watched as Emerl and Tails shared a glance.

"Excuse me, sir," she spoke. "May I say something?"

Emerl and Tails gathered around me. This woman was sounding suspicious.

"Yes?" I replied.

"You've got some moves, dude!" she smiled and everyone else nodded in agreement. "I've seen a lot of people get into the groove around here, but no one is as into it as you are, man."

"Well, this is my friend's first time here," Emerl patted me on the shoulder. "So, he's new to music."

"New, huh?" said the woman, stroking her chin. "Tell ya what, how would like to come up here and play with us?"

Everyone in the town gasped in excitement and begged me to go on stage and perform. Glancing left and right, I shook my head.

"I don't know," I answered. "It seems like a little much for me. Granted, I copied the drummer's biodata into my system, but I don't know if I can-"

"Oh, come on, give it a shot," Emerl reassured me. "You won't if you like it until you try, right?"

"Yeah, come on, man. Join in on the fun!" said a man in the corner.

"Don't think too hard, just have fun," said another woman.

"You got this, man," a child gave me a thumbs up.

Cracking the circuits in my fingers, I stepped on stage and was greeted by the band. The drummer got up from his seat and handed me his sticks. I looked up and wanted to say that I was nervous, but he leaned down and told me.

"I know it sounds nerve-racking at first, but once that you drop that first beat, you find yourself lost in the melody," he said to me. "Good luck."

He patted me on the shoulder and walked off the stage.

Emerl and Tails cheered for me, as I took my seat and glanced at everyone in the crowd.

The band quietly waited for me to start playing the drums, so I clicked the drumsticks together and started patting the drums…

…I played terribly.

The melody was non-existent, and I wasn't making much noise with the instrument. Everyone else in the band looked at me and raised their eyebrows. They were all assuming that this was a massive joke and an unfunny one at that. I was still tapping the drums, only making sounds that even ants could barely hear.

Just then, I stopped playing and placed the drumsticks down; I didn't want to embarrass myself any further.

I walked off the stage and prepared to walk away, but Tails and Emerl stopped me.

"Where are you going?" Emerl inquired.

"I can't do this," I replied. "I'm playing so bad, even amateur musicians would think I stink."

"Not with that attitude," Tails shook his head. "Listen, Synergy. I think you're letting the fear of screwing up control you."

"Me, afraid? No way," I folded my arms.

Emerl and Tails shared a deadpanned glance.

"Listen to those folks, Synergy," Emerl said. The black/yellow Gizoid wrapped an arm around my shoulder. "Just go out there and have fun. It's _your_ job to create your own melody and no one's going to stop you from doing so."

"G-merl's right," Tails nodded in agreement. "You're free to think of whatever creative thing you have on your mind."

Stroking my chin, I realized that my former ally was right, and I wanted to listen to his words. Nodding to my friends, I climbed back on stage and snatched the drumsticks.

Sitting down, I glanced at the audience one last time before I tapped the sticks against each other.

Then, I started banging the drums. _**(3)**_

This time, I quickly tapped both drums at a rapid beat; the sound of the beat was more harmonic than the first time I did it. As I kept patting the drums, I looked up and saw that the people in the crowd were still confused, but the band had different looks on their faces.

Everyone looked at each other before they started tapping their toes.

A guitarist to my right snapped his fingers and bopped his head to the beat.

Suddenly, a man on the flute blew into his instrument, following along with the melody I created. I got excited to see that someone played alongside me and little did I know what it was going to be better. Before I knew it, the guitarist got down on his knees and strummed his fingers against the strings.

Soon enough, we were all playing together as one band.

The crowd as in utter amazement. They all shared an excited glance and began dancing to the tune we were making. I watched Tails and Emerl's eyes light up like the sun above the town, as they clapped and cheered my name.

We continued playing our song until it was time for the guitarist to perform his solo. He jumped in the air and slid across the stage on his knees, playing the guitar as if his life depended on it. The flute player was still going strong and the harmony resumed until suddenly…

…everyone stopped playing their instruments.

I was the only one playing the drums and I was rocking the crowd with what this generation calls, _"an awesome solo!"_. Gotta say, I didn't expect to have so much fun in this picturesque town. I thought I was just going to go on a monotonous tour of the landmarks, but instead, I got to interact with the townsfolk.

My solo ended and everyone else chimed in.

We carried out our song until the band and I finally came to a stop. One final drumroll finished the number and we all raised our hands in the air. _**(3s)**_

A moment of silence occurred until the crowd uproared in applause.

Emerl and Tails glanced at one another and walked on stage with me. Patting me on both of my shoulders, they raised my arms and continued cheering for me.

I walked off the stage and handed the drumsticks back to the drummer, but he shook his head and declined my offer.

"Keep em', man," he told me. "You earned them."

"Are you sure?" I inquired.

"Heck yeah, dude! Keep rocking, man."

Holding the drumsticks in my hand, I holstered them away and joined my friends in exploring the rest of Mazuri.

* * *

 _~Synergy's P.O.V. (Continued) **(4)**_

Coming back from Mazuri was a letdown for me because there were a lot of highlights from that place. From exploring the citadel to running down the reddish-brown fields, there was a lot to take in. Unfortunately, Emerl and Tails took me back to the Mineral Museum…

…but that wasn't the end of my day.

Amy, Cream, and Big decided they wanted to take me to another town known as Spagonia. They told me that a friend of theirs named Professor Dillion Pickle was going to show me around a school known as Spagonia University.

I don't know much about school. From what I'm told, it's a place where people would teach others about mathematics, science, history, and studying different languages across the Mobian region. That's different compared to the school Imperator Ix had during his regime. When I was around, I would see echidna children being trained as soldiers, math and science weren't words in their dictionaries.

Anyways, Sonic escorted us to the school, and I have to say, it was a nice place…

…I just wish Professor Pickle would get to the point of his story.

Amy, Cream, and Big took me upstairs to see him and instead of teaching me about how he runs the school, he's spent the last two hours lecturing us on what makes a good cucumber sandwich.

 _A cucumber sandwich?_ I asked myself. _That didn't exist in my day._

"The object to making a cucumber sandwich is a difficult task for some people," Professor Pickle explained. He sat by his desk and leaned on the back of his chair, holding the sandwich itself in his hand. "But once you understand the basics, you can make one delicious snack. So, what I like to do is put one bun on the bottom of the plate…"

He took out a thin-sliced piece of bread and placed it on a paper plate.

"Next, you want to take a thin layer of mayonnaise and spread it on the bottom…"

He did exactly what he said.

"Then, we get to the exciting part," the professor sliced the cucumber into six neatly sliced pieces and placed them upon the mayonnaise layer. "We lay the cucumbers down on the sandwich. Remember, do not stack the cucumbers on top of each other. That's going to make your sandwich fall apart."

Big, Cream, and Cheese were clearly enjoying this tutorial.

Amy folded her arms and growled slightly.

I was like Big, Cream, and Cheese. Not gonna lie, that sandwich was starting to look delicious. Too bad I'm a robot, I would have dug my face into that thing by now.

Then, Professor Pickle whipped out a yellow jar and squirted a yellow substance on top of the cucumbers. "Next, we take a little drop of honey mustard and meticulously spread it around in a spiral and finally…"

He took another slice of bread and placed it on the sandwich.

The snake was finally complete.

"Wha-la!" Professor Pickle smiled. "A tasty sandwich at long last."

Cream, Big, Cheese, and I clapped our hands together. Amy did the same, but harshly.

"Now, I will show you how to make a cucumber sandwich deluxe," Professor Pickle nodded. "What you want to do is-"

" _No!_ " Amy halted the next tutorial. Everyone including myself looked at her. The pink hedgehog glanced at us and took a moment to calm herself down. "Sorry… Professor Pickle, this is nice and all, but… we came here to show Synergy what life at school is like. Do you think you can show us around?"

"Why, of course, Miss Rose," the professor nodded. "Just as soon as I finish this sandwich."

Opening his mouth, he took a bite; his face was covered in honey mustard. He took another bite and wiped his face with a napkin.

Amy gave the old man a deadpan stare and gently took my hand. She, Cream, Cheese, and Big opened the door and let themselves out.

We walked down the stairs to the university, where teenage and adult students roamed around a library.

"Well, that's two hours of my life I'll never get back," Amy moaned.

"I found myself learning a lot today," Big commented. "Did you, Froggy?"

The frog that sat on my friend's shoulder replied with a croak.

"What should we do now, Miss Rose?" Cream inquired.

"I don't know, Cream," Amy answered, checking the time on her Miles Electric. "It's getting late outside, meaning we're not going to have enough time to check out the city. This also means that we've nearly wasted the first day of showing Synergy most of Mobius, which is bad because we made a deal about wanting to change him and…"

As the pink hedgehog ranted, I found myself distracted by something across from me.

It was a red-headed teenager with a green sweater and square-shaped glasses. She wore purple jeans and had black sneakers. But she wasn't what distracted me. In her hands was a book titled, _"To Shoot A Hummingbird"_.

I wasn't sure what it was, but something about that title caught my attention.

Walking over, I stood behind the chair she was sitting on and started reading the book from where I was standing.

It didn't take her long to notice me.

" _Gah!_ " she jumped out of her seat. I leaped back.

"S-sorry," I humbly apologized. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"No, no, it's okay," the girl chuckled, pushing back her red hair. "Can I help you with something?"

"Again, my apologies. I was just invested in the book you're reading."

She looked at her book. "This? Oh, have you read this book before?"

"I never read many books where I came from. I mean, I know what they are, but I was never exposed to reading."

"Seriously?" the woman raised her eyebrow before she smiled. "Well, if you're looking to start reading books. This is a great one to read. It tells the story of a female chipmunk who has to live in a world of prejudice. You see, she lives in a town full of mongooses, so they judge her because she's different than everyone else."

"Sounds intriguing," I nodded. "Is there a way I can find another copy of that book?"

"Here, you can read it with me."

My eyes widened. "F-for real?"

"Yeah, come here and I'll read it with you." The woman smiled.

I sat down on the edge of the chair and the girl flipped the book back to the beginning. From there, we silently read the story in our minds.

 _~END OF P.O.V._

* * *

Amy continued rambling.

"Sonic and Knuckles are going to be disappointed in me and I don't want them to be disappointed in me because I don't wanna fail and have Synergy not change at all, so I'm just-"

"Miss Rose," Cream tugged her best friend's hand. "Look,"

Cheese pointed to the wonderful sight of Synergy bonding with a human girl over a storybook.

Big was amazed by this sight and Froggy sat down on his friend's shoulder.

"Chao, Chao!" Cheese smiled.

"Aww, it looks like he made a new friend," Cream mirrored the Chao's gesture. "And he's reading a story. How nice."

"Guess he found a way to have fun, Amy," Big nodded in agreement. "Right, Froggy?"

"Ribbit, Ribbit," the frog replied.

Amy had a neutral expression on her face before she smiled.

Folding her arms, she and Team Rose watched as Synergy continued reading the book while interacting with the human girl. _**(4s)**_

* * *

Inside the Final Egg, Dr. Eggman resumed experiments on the Elemental Gizoids.

"Running Elemental Gizoid experiment number five," the mad doctor said, as he closed the training capsule that a royal blue Gizoid sat in and pressed against the radar.

Dr. Starline sat by his side.

Rough and Tumble were working out in the corner.

Orbot and Cubot swept the floors.

"Commencing the fifth Elemental experiment in three... two…" Dr. Eggman cracked his fingers and began the simulation. "One."

With buckets of water sitting beside the blue robot, it gently lifted his hands and opened its palms. Flexing its fingers, it waited patiently for the water to approach him. Both doctors shared a brief look before the platypus tapped his master on the shoulder, motioning to the testing chamber.

Dr. Eggman peered towards the hydrokinetic robot and saw it manipulating the water, forming a ring of it around its body.

"It's… working!" Dr. Eggman nodded with a cackle. He raised his fist. "Finally! The Elemental Compounds inside the Gizoids are working!"

A few seconds of the Gizoid controlling the water went by and suddenly, water accidentally splashed on top of the droid's head. This caused him to short circuit, which resulted in a small explosion.

Dr. Eggman and Dr. Starline jumped back.

Rough and Tumble looked up from their bench presses.

Orbot and Cubot stopped sweeping.

Smoke covered the entirety of the chamber. Dr. Starline opened it up and vacuumed it into a vacuum cleaner. Dr. Eggman wiped smoke away from his face and saw that another experiment has failed.

"Great," he rolled his eyes and moaned. "Another Elemental Gizoid… _wasted_! Just like the previous four Gizoids. This is starting to annoy me!"

"Perhaps, the Gizoids need to be modified so that way, they can handle the compounds better," Dr. Starline folded his arms behind his back. "It would be the safest way of performing these experiments… or maybe… hmm… is it too risky?"

"What? What's too risky?"

Dr. Starline looked at his boss. "I was about to say… since we know the location of the prototype Elemental Gizoid, I was thinking we'd steal it back and experiment on it. If the prototype works, we can use components from it to modify the other Gizoids."

"We're not invading Resistance HQ, not now!"

"W-what?"

"We've already wasted enough Gizoids on Windmill Village and my other Badniks are undergoing repairs. If we invade Resistance HQ with low ammunition, they'll overpower us within seconds. Heck, even a Chao Garden could wipe us out with our lack of equipment. That's why I'm taking my time with experimenting on the other Gizoids," Dr. Eggman pointed, as he paced back and forth. "If the Elemental compounds work, then we can use them to invade Resistance HQ. Until then, we're continuing with the experiments. My decision is final."

"B-but, Doctor…"

"I said my decision is final! Rough, Tumble, bring the Earth Elemental over to the chamber!"

Rough and Tumble got up and did what they were told.

Dr. Starline approached a crate beside Orbot and took a seat. Rubbing his eyes, he turned to the spheroid lackey. "Orbot, may I ask you something?"

"You? Ask me something?" Orbot replied with shock. "Wow, no one's ever come to talk to me before. I should write this moment down in my memoirs along with the embarrassing stories of Dr. Eggman. Anyways, what do you need, Starbline?"

"It's Starline and I was just wondering… do you think that the Doctor is playing this too safe? I mean, I'm not trying to call him out for taking his time, but I just don't want him to waste time experimenting with Gizoids that are sensitive to the Elemental compounds. It's a waste of time and I know that Dr. Eggman can put Projects: G-merl and Synergy into good use if we track them down fast enough… I don't know what I'm rambling on about. What do you think about this matter?"

"Honestly, I'm surprised Dr. Eggman isn't planning to invade Resistance HQ at this moment," Orbot answered. "Knowing him, he'd jump into his Egg Mobile and start blasting with no problem, it's amazing that he wants to take his time. Of course, knowing the typical Sonic vs Eggman tradition, this whole operation will just blow up in his face."

The platypus stroked his chin and eyeballed his boss, seeing another Gizoid fall victim to a failed experiment.

" _Dang it_!" Dr. Eggman snarled.

Dr. Starline shook his head.

He folded his arms and tapped his duckbill, thinking.

 _Maybe it's best if I follow my own orders if Dr. Eggman and I want this plan to work,_ Dr. Starline said in his mind, as he looked back at his mentor. _In other words, I'm going to need to go behind the Doctor's back and steal that prototype Gizoid from the Resistance._

 _ **END OF CHAPTER 28**_

* * *

 _Uh, oh! What plans could Dr. Starline be holding? Does he plan on betraying Dr. Eggman despite idolizing him? What could possibly unfold? Well, at least the Resistance are working hard to change Synergy and so far, it seems to be working. The Gizoid played music and learned how to enjoy a good book. Sounds like he's having a good time so far. Let's just the rest of the heroes can keep this up. Synergy will continue his trip around the world and Dr. Starline's plans will advance in..._

 _"Chapter 29: Around the World in Three Days: Part 2_

* * *

 ** _POST-A/N:_**

 _Nothing much to say here other than the fact that these next two parts will be callbacks to Sonic Unleashed as well as other Sonic games. There is one callback to IDW Sonic Annual 2019 in Chapter 29, but I will not spoil what it is._

 _Serious question to you all: How am I doing with the characterization of G-merl and Cream? Sometimes, I feel like I'm not doing enough and other times, I feel like I'm doing enough. I'm not sure why I feel this way, but what do you all think?_

 _Overall, that's all I have to say. Thank you all so much for reading. Don't forget to R &R and I'll see you all next time!_

 _~SD321 (SpiderDom321)_


	29. Around the World in Three Days: Pt 2

_**A/N:** Hello, everyone! Welcome back to another chapter of Awakened. As of now, we have over **130 reviews** on Awakened I want to thank each and every one of you for getting us this far. By us, I mean me and my awesome co-writer Infinite's Ruby. Even though I've said it many times, this story wouldn't be where it is today without her help. So, I owe her a lot!_

 _Also, I've just released a Team Chaotix one-shot this morning. For those of you who are lovers of Team Chaotix like me, be sure to give that a read and let me know what you think._

 ** _Suggested Music:_**

 ** _(1) Chun-Nan (Hub World Day) - Sonic Unleashed OST_**

 ** _(2) Dragon Road (Day) - Sonic Unleashed OST_**

 ** _(3) Empire City (Day) - Sonic Unleashed OST_**

 _Without further ado, enjoy the show!_

* * *

 **Around the World in Three Days: Part 2**

 _~Synergy's P.O.V. **(1)**_

The next day, Sonic and Knuckles took me to another famous location in Mobian geography; Chun-nan. Much like Mazuri, it was a quiet town; however, what intrigued me the most was that this town was settled on a mountain top. According to Sonic, this town is known for its delicious meat bun recipe that has been passed down from generations.

One thing's for certain, The Nocturnus Clan was never known for making any special recipes. Culinary skills wasn't in their nature. If I remember correctly, the Knuckles Clan was known for making delicious meals, but I wouldn't know that considering I was told they were my enemies.

Speaking of which, it was weird being around Knuckles because he's the only descendant of the Knuckles Clan. It was hard for me to not think of the war between the Knuckles and Nocturnus tribes from a millennia ago. I've fought Knuckles a few days ago in Soleanna, but I found it odd that we were spending time together.

Currently, I sat by a dinner table alongside him and Sonic. The two of them ordered food from a noodle shop across from us and were enjoying their meal.

As I said in Spagonia, I wish I was a Mobian. That way, I could devour all of the food that was on the table. There were dumplings, noodles, chicken, potstickers, rice, and those infamous meat buns that Sonic gushed about.

Speaking of which, I watched him clap his chopsticks together, as he ate a dumpling from the platter.

"Mmm, mmm, mmm!" he smiled, swallowing the dumpling. "Gosh, I love these dumplings. I mean, chili dogs will always be the best food ever! But dumplings are a close second."

"You know, Sonic," Knuckles said. "It's really rude to brag about food when one of us can't even eat it."

"What are you talking about?" Sonic shrugged, as he turned over his shoulder and looked at me. "…Oh. My bad, S."

I couldn't help but chuckle.

"It's fine," I replied. "Just seeing the food and learning about the town's culture is enough for me. Is it true you came here with Light Gaia himself? I've heard legends about him long ago. I didn't think he was real."

"Yep," Sonic grinned. "Light Gaia, or Chip as I called him, and I were good friends back then. We came here during the Shattered World Crisis; a time where Eggman unleashed Dark Gaia and split Mobius into pieces. During our time here, all we did was eat all of the food…" he let out a low sigh. "I miss that guy."

"Sounds like you and him were close," I nodded.

"We were," he mimicked my gesture. "I will admit, he was a fast one. Not as fast as me, but he was quick on his toes. I'll never forget the time he and I fought over the last dumpling."

As he said that, he reached over to get another dumpling; however, another set of chopsticks touched against his.

Sonic and I looked over to see who else wanted the dumpling.

It was Knuckles… _**(1s)**_

…and there was only one dumpling in the platter.

The two of us stared at him.

"Knuckles," said Sonic.

"Sonic," said Knuckles.

"Trust me, buddy. You don't wanna do this."

"You've had six of these things. I only had three."

"I don't care, dude. I'm hungry."

"So am I."

"Well, one of us has to have it."

"Yeah, and that someone's gonna be me."

"That's ridiculous. What makes you think you deserve it?"

"I'm the Commander of the Resistance. I've lead the team against Eggman, and I've been working to clean up Mobius."

"Well, I spent six months on the Death Egg. I deserve the dumpling."

"No, I deserve the dumpling."

"Sure you do, Knucklehead."

After the banter, both the hedgehog and the echidna locked eyes with one another. They tightened their grip on their chopsticks and glared down at the lone dumpling. I felt bad for the poor snack that sat on the plate.

"Watch and learn, Synergy," Sonic stretched his hand, clasping the chopsticks and glared at the last dumpling. "This is how you eat a dumpling like a pro."

At that moment, a donnybrook for food began.

Sonic and Knuckles raised their chopsticks in the air and clashed them against one another, pressing them down against the plate, trying to get the dumpling. They grunted and grinned at one another as they continued clashing their wooden weapons together.

Eventually, Knuckles whacked Sonic's hand to the side and grabbed the dumpling, but Sonic countered and grabbed the dumpling for himself.

The two of them fought over it again until both of their chopsticks had it in their grasp.

They tugged over it until a twist happened during the fight…

…the dumpling fell out of their hands.

It rolled across the ground and rolled over the side of a platform. _**(2)**_

Sonic screamed at the top of his lungs, as Knuckles and I ran over and watched the dumpling bounce off three rooftops and land in the back of someone's cart.

A cart that was attached to the back of someone's scooter.

The man took off in a heartbeat, unaware of what sat on the back of his vehicle.

Sonic didn't hesitate to leap over the side and slide down a pole. "So long, Knuckles! That dumpling is mine!"

"Not on my watch!" Knuckles retorted. "Come on, Synergy!"

"Okay," I replied, shrugging my shoulders.

Knuckles and I jumped off the platform and flew across the skies. We looked down and watched Sonic jump off an open umbrella and land on the road. He got down on his hands and knees before he took off after the moped. Knuckles and I landed on a rooftop and quickly ran down the side of the wall and leaped off to the ground. We somersaulted forward and ran down the pathway.

It was difficult for us to maneuver through the busy streets because of the crowd of people walking around to their jobs or taking a peaceful stroll down the town.

"Excuse me, pardon me, excuse me, pardon me, Commander of the Resistance coming through!" Knuckles called, as he and I escaped from the crowd of civilians and caught the scooter rider insight. Sonic, on the other hand, was having a hard time building up speed.

"Hey, come back here!" I heard him shout at us. Turning around, I looked and saw him jump over the crowd, grab onto a pole, spin around, and shot himself into the air.

He landed on the road and ran past us.

"Fastest thing alive, coming through!" he saluted to us, as he rushed towards the scooter.

"Dang it!" Knuckles grunted. "How are we gonna catch up to him?"

Suddenly, I glanced to my right and saw a body of water below us. With it, a couple of boats sailed by. This gave me an idea.

"Jump on my back!" I called.

"What?" he asked.

"Trust me!"

I could tell Knuckles was hesitant at first, but he nodded and jumped on my shoulders.

It was at that moment where I leaped over the side and divebombed towards the water. With one quick splash, we swam for a little bit before I grabbed Knuckles and placed him on my shoulders again. Then, I used every ounce of my power to activate my Chaos Emulation.

Jumping out of the water with Knuckles on my left shoulder, I roamed across the ocean at the speed of sound. We did this until we saw ourselves behind Sonic and the scooter rider.

The blue hedgehog was about to grab the dumpling, but he turned around and saw it. His face dropped in disappointment.

"Oh, come on!" Sonic shouted. "Seriously?"

"Give me that dumpling, Sonic!" Knuckles hollered.

"Not a chance, Knucklehead!"

Sonic jumped on top of the scooter and yanked the dumpling from the back. He must've spooked the driver because the next thing I knew, Sonic was smacked across the jaw with a fly swatter and he tumbled backward.

Knuckles and I passed by.

"See ya later, sucker!" Knuckles laughed.

As soon as we approached the edge of the bridge, I leaped upward and transformed back to normal.

Knuckles and I got in front of the driver and put our hands out.

The driver came to a sudden stop.

"Pardon us, sir," I nodded. "You have something on the back of your vehicle. May we take a moment to grab it please?"

"S-sure," the man replied nervously.

Knuckles and I ran to the back and searched the back…

…the dumpling wasn't there.

"W-what the?" Knuckles raised an eyebrow.

"Ha-ha!" We heard Sonic laugh, as we looked at the top of the edge of the bridge and saw him; he was ready to consume the snack.

"No!" Knuckles shouted.

He ran over and, without hesitation, tackled Sonic and the two fell down towards the buildings underneath the bridge.

Out of concern for their safety, I ran over, leaped off, and started flying after them.

They crashed against a few rooftops and bounced off a few window shades.

With my speed, I flew below them and caught them in an instant, but the dumpling fell out of Sonic's hand.

I carried them to the ground and the dumpling miraculously survived the fall by bouncing off a building shade and rolling across the floor.

Sonic and Knuckles leaped out of my arms and went straight for the dumpling. The former jumped on top of the latter and they continued fighting over the dumpling.

"Give up, Sonic!" Knuckles snarled, pinning Sonic to the ground.

"No way, it's mine!" Sonic retorted.

The two fought until a red tongue grabbed the dumpling and dragged it towards its mouth. _**(2s)**_

Sonic and Knuckles gasped at the food's disappearance. We looked over and saw who the culprit was.

It was Froggy.

"Ribbit, Ribbit!" he jumped up and down.

Sonic and Knuckles had the same look of shock on their faces.

Big, Tangle, Tails, Emerl, Cream, and Amy entered the scene and the cat grabbed his friend.

"Hey, Froggy," Big greeted. "I was looking for you."

The frog replied with the same sound.

"Hey, guys," Amy greeted. "What's going on?"

Sonic and Knuckles looked at each other and back at Amy. They had nothing to say.

"What happened here?" Amy asked again.

"Judging from the look on Froggy's face, I'd say he got something Sonic and Knuckles wanted," Emerl joked.

"How are you doing, Mr. Synergy?" asked Cream.

"I'm… doing excellent, Cream," I laughed. "Knuckles and I were preventing Sonic from taking the last dumpling and it was fun. We got to see a bit of the town and we swam across the water. It was incredible! It was so much fun!"

Emerl and Cream shared a smile.

"Glad you're having fun, Synergy," Amy winked. "Come on, we wanna show some of the dragon sculptures that are here."

"Dragons?" I inquired. "Count me in!"

We quickly walked away from the scene. Sonic and Knuckles had disappointed looks on their faces.

"Hey, Sonic," said Knuckles.

"Yeah, Knuckles," said Sonic.

"I hate that frog."

* * *

 _~Synergy's P.O.V. (Continued)_

Poor Sonic and Knuckles. They should've been fast enough if they wanted that last dumpling, ha-ha.

Anyways, my adventure in Chun-nan sadly came to an end, but luckily, the day wasn't over yet.

Instead of traveling around Mobius, I was actually offered to visit another dimension. A while ago, Blaze informed the Resistance that she has been away from her kingdom for too long and she asked if she can head back to check on everything. Of course, the Resistance said yes, and she used her dimension's Chaos Emeralds called Sol Emeralds to open a portal to her dimension. But before she left, she asked me if I wanted to see what her home was like. I had to admit, I didn't believe there were other worlds out there besides this one, but I was interested in seeing how the Sol Zone was. But I wasn't alone in this journey, for Silver the Hedgehog offered to go with Blaze to keep her safe. She accepted his request and we traveled through the portal.

Upon entering, I was greeted to a whole new world.

For the most part, the Sol Dimension was very similar to Mobius; however, the biggest difference was that Blaze's homeworld was a vast sea with many islands of varying size found across it, I'm wondering if the entire planet is built this way.

Blaze told me that multiple islands around here housed ancient relics and that her arch-nemesis: Dr. Eggman Nega tries to steal them in hopes of ruling the world.

Although, I wanted to know more about this Eggman Nega because Silver told me that he's also _his_ arch-nemesis…

…did I miss something here?

We made our way to Blaze's kingdom and I had to admit, it was the most beautiful landmark I've seen all day. The island we were on was called the Southern Island and the village we were in is called Windmill Village.

The place was mildly small for the most part; there were a few houses, a large watchtower, and a massive dock that sheltered many customed made boats piloted by an orange raccoon named Marine and her team of koalas called the Coconut Crew.

But Blaze, Silver, and I weren't heading over to the docks until later. Instead, we were doing something else.

In the middle of the forest, we doing the one thing I didn't expect to do on this trip…

…planting crops.

I wasn't sure why we were doing this instead of sailing on the boats, but I decided not to question it. I would say that I'm enjoying what I'm doing if only I knew what I was doing.

I sat by the dirt, confused. Looking down at the rich brown soil, I turned my eyes to Silver. The white hedgehog was dark brown and grey gloves and a straw hat with a flower on it. I looked at him, wanting to see how he was doing this better than I was.

He had a pile of seeds in his hands and was humming a tune. He grabbed a shovel beside him and dug a small hole. Placing the seeds inside, he covered them with dirt and sprinkled it with water. He then cracked his fingers and checked on a few tomato plants to his right.

"Maybe we can use these to make tomato soup tonight," Silver smiled. "And we can add parmesan cheese! Oh, and mozzarella! Mmm-mmm, I love mozzarella cheese!"

Glaring down at my own garden, I was embarrassed to tell anyone that Silver had more plants than I did. Scooping up a pile of seeds to my left, I did the same thing Silver did and buried the seeds in the dirt. Showing the soil with dirt, I waited patiently for something to happen.

Nothing happened.

I gazed at Silver's garden again. He had everything from tomato plants, flowers, roses, and nearly every vegetable that existed.

This was starting to annoy me.

"This is starting to annoy me," I snarled angrily, slamming the grass beside me.

"Careful, Synergy!" Silver gasped, holding his shovel. "You're gonna hurt the plants!"

"Is something wrong, Synergy?" Blaze asked from my right. She had the same attire as her friend.

"How come my plants aren't growing!?" I snarled. "Silver's plants have been growing just fine, mine hasn't done squat! It's like they want me to step on them and crush them to pieces!"

Silver gasped in utter horror. "You monster!"

"My shotty garden is the monster here!"

Blaze folded her arms and took a deep breath. "You see, Synergy, not everything is meant to grow super-fast. The reason Silver's plants have been growing so well is that he's been taking care of them for some time now. Synergy, the plants aren't going to grow overnight because you tell them to. I can understand that it's frustrating not seeing the immediate results of your hard work, but with some hard work and patience, you'll see how much care has gone into raising your vegetables."

Looking down at my garden, I felt embarrassed about my outburst.

I rubbed my arm and nodded. "I'm sorry, Blaze. I don't mean to complain… I just don't want to make a crummy garden for you, that's all."

Blaze smiled. "You're not going to make a crummy garden. If you put enough care into it, I'm sure you'll make something great."

Folding my hands together, I agreed with everything she told me and got down on my knees. "Excuse me, Silver. I'm out of seeds. Do you mind if I have some of yours?"

"Sure," Silver replied, as he handed me a pile of sunflower seeds.

Like before, I buried them in the dirt and showered them with water.

 _One of these days, you guys will grow into something special,_ I thought. _But for now… I'm going to care for you the best I can._

Silver, Blaze, and I continued tending the garden.

* * *

 _~Synergy's P.O.V. (Continued) **(3)**_

My journey in the Sol Dimension came to an end and I was ready to head back to the Mineral Museum, but Tangle the Lemur said otherwise.

"Welcome to Empire City!" She bounced on her tail and waved her arms around. She, Whisper, Mighty, Ray, Emerl, Cream, and Jewel joined in me in one of the prettiest, but also nosiest places on Mobius.

Cars honked their horns at other cars, people were talking on their cell phones, pedestrians walked up and down the streets, there wasn't a single quiet place in this city. How can people live here in peace? As I walked around, I found myself bumping into people accidentally. Sometimes, people would apologize for getting in my way, but others would snarl and tell me to watch where I'm going.

 _Well, excuse me!_ I would think to myself. _I'm not the one playing on a portable telephone!_

Thankfully, I had Mighty and Ray to keep me calm throughout my adventure.

Sightseeing wasn't the only reason I was here; Jewel and I were signed up for an annual fashion contest hosted by the president of Honey Clothing: Honey the Cat. Apparently, this event happens every five years and Jewel has been competing ever since. While she has no interest in fashion as a career, she does like to come here for the fun of it. But she has told me that she's never won the event. She would always lose to a competitor named Tiara.

According to Tangle, Tiara's won every single competition since the tradition started and Jewel's always come down to first and second place. Personality-wise, I don't know much about Tiara, but I'm hoping that Jewel and I take home the gold.

It would be nice to win, just like I did when I helped take down the Knuckles Clan.

Jewel anxiously walked down the street with a bag in her hand; the bag contained the dress we designed together. When I came back from the Sol Dimension, she asked me if I can help her design the dress and I said yes. For the record, I know nothing about fashion, but she told me to be creative and make it as fun as I can. So, that's what I did…

…I'm just hoping our hard work paid off.

She still paced down the road; sweat poured from her forehead and she checked her watch every five seconds.

The competition was starting in twenty minutes.

"J-J-Jewel?" Ray inquired, tugging on her shoulder. "Are you g-g-g-going t-t-to be o-okay?"

"Huh?" Jewel gasped, looking at the yellow squirrel. "Y-yes! I'm fine! I'm just a little nervous, that's all. I know I come here for fun, but I get so anxious whenever this comes up."

"Don't be," Tangle nudged her best friend. "You're going to win this time! I just know it!"

"I'm not one to care about winning," Jewel replied. "But it would be nice to win this year."

"And we will," I assured the beetle. "We've spent hours working on that dress. We have to win."

"Easy there, Synergy," Mighty tapped my shoulder. "Don't get cocky. You may have worked hard on it, but that doesn't you'll win because of it. But if you do win, try not to rub it in anyone's face. That's called bad sportsmanship."

"But shouldn't I let others know that I'm better than them?" I asked.

"Well, if you did do that, you'd be coming off as obnoxious," Mighty replied. "My father once told me that winning isn't everything, having fun is an important part."

"M-M-Mighty's right," Ray smiled. "It's g-good to show g-g-g-good s-sportsmanship."

I wondered about that for a second before we finally stopped at the building: Honey Clothing HQ. I had to admit, it was smaller than I imagined. It was an average-sized building with golden logos of the franchise's name on it. People were entering the building with their own dresses and outfits, praying that they'd win this year's competition.

I felt bad for all of these losers because we were gonna win.

Upon entering the building, we were escorted to the top floor and my gosh, was it packed.

People were gathered around several colored booths that had the names of the competitors printed across the front. We were all amazed by the colorful scenery of the room. The floor was red, and the walls were primarily blue. Yellow banners ran across several walls, reading _"Welcome, Competitors!"_

Other posters included Honey the Cat herself standing next to a silhouette figure. Below them read, _"Think you got what it takes to have you design featured in the next line? Sign up for the Annual Honey Clothing Fashion Contest!"_

"Wow, G-merl," Cream gasped. "Look at all of these people. It's so packed in here. I hope we don't get lost."

"Not to worry, Kiddo," her best friend replied. "Just stay close to me and you'll be fine."

It didn't take us long to approach our booth, which was decorated in Jewel's colors, turquoise blue and pink. She sat her dress on the podium and gulped. It was clear she was nervous, and she had no right to be. I knew we were gonna kick butt.

"I've never seen so many people here," Tangle said. "Have you, Whisper?"

The lone wolf said nothing.

"Come on, the least you can do is lighten up," Tangle went to tap Whisper's shoulder, but was met to a Wispon pointed at her stomach.

Everyone else and I backed away from Whisper.

" _Boundaries,"_ Whisper nodded.

"Right… boundaries," Tangle said, stepping back. "Boundaries."

As Whisper put away her Wispon, the manager herself: Honey stepped onto a podium and grabbed a microphone.

"Is this thing on?" she spoke loudly, getting everyone's attention. "Hello? Hello?..." she cleared her throat. "Good afternoon, everyone! My name's Honey the Cat and welcome to another Annual Honey Clothing Fashion Design Competition! Gosh, I need to shorten that title."

Everyone laughed.

"Anyway, I'm glad to see that some of you from the previous competitions have returned for another year and I'm glad to see some newcomers. So, before we begin, allow me to explain the rules. To those of you competing, your job is to describe your piece to the audience observing as a way to get their votes. Speaking of which, to every audience member, your job is very simple. Vote for the best-designed outfit! Whoever gets the most votes gets their outfit featured in my next line of Honey Clothing! Got it, everyone? Awesome! All right, competitors! Get into position!"

Jewel and I placed our hands on the sheet covering the dress.

"Three… two…" Honey took out a horn from her pocket. "…one!"

Blowing the horn into the microphone, every competitor revealed their design.

Jewel and I yanked off the sheet and showed off our creation. It was a bright blue colored dress with navy blue and green streaks all over it. Along with ancient Nocturnus Clan symbols that mean _"Creative. Imagination. Outside the Box"_. The beetle and I jumped back and waited for people to cast their votes.

Throughout the day, we did nothing but explain our design from how we created it to the idea behind it. So far, a majority of the people were impressed, and they dropped pieces of paper into a purple box on the front. Emerl and Cream were looking at the other outfits, Mighty and Ray were cheering us on, and Tangle and Whisper were taking pictures of themselves alongside Honey herself.

I believe they're called selfies, but I wouldn't know.

Two hours have gone by and a loud horn echoed through the room. _**(3s)**_

Everyone in the office stopped talking to one another and turned to the podium. Honey the Cat took the time to collect every voting box in the room. They were all sitting right in front of her, waiting to be counted.

This was it.

This was our big moment.

The moment where Jewel and I claim victory.

"All right, everyone. It's time to count the votes!" Honey shouted excitingly. "Let's see who this year's winner is. Will it be someone new or will it be last year's champion: Tiara Boobowski!"

To our right, a female Manx with brown fur and red clothing pressed her hands together. I guess this was Tiara Boobowski: Jewel's competitor. Speaking of Jewel, Tiara waved at her and wished her luck. I bet she did that to look nice, when really, she's probably as cold as ice.

Honey quickly counted all of the votes inside each box and tallied them together.

"And the winner of this year's Honey Clothing Fashion Design Contest is…"

Jewel and I shared an agitated glance.

Emerl and Cream mirrored our motion.

Mighty and Ray waited patiently.

Tangle prayed to the Mobian Gods above.

And Whisper folded her arms.

Honey took a deep breath before announcing the winner.

"…Tiara Boobowski!"

She was kidding, right?

The brown Manx to our right cheered with glory, as she ran down the stairs to her booth. She dashed towards Honey, gave her a hug, and claimed her prize; a golden trophy with Honey's face on it. And her line was promised to be featured as the next brand of Honey Clothing.

I was angry.

A few minutes went by and we exited the building. Jewel had a smile on her face, and everyone gathered around her, congratulating her for participating in the contest.

But that didn't change the way I felt.

"Are you kidding me!?" I ranted in pure frustration. "That was ridiculous! _We_ should have won that trophy! _We_ should have gotten our outfit featured in that next line, but _nope_! Stinkin' Tiara Boobowski, who sounds like a rejected fan character, gets picked as the winner! How is that possible!?"

"Oh, come on, Synergy," Emerl placed a hand on my shoulder. "Don't be such a party pooper."

"That's disgusting," I cringed. "Who does that at a party?"

"That's not what I meant, dude."

"Mr. Synergy, please don't be angry," Cream nodded, placing her hands together. "Tiara won and we have to accept that. But what matters most is that you and Miss Jewel did your best."

"Yeah!" Tangle agreed with the rabbit. "As you guys explained your concept, I can tell you had a lot of fun! You shared laughs with some townsfolk, and you made a few jokes during your explanation! That should mean something, right?"

I rubbed my head. "W-well, yeah, but I… It would have been nice to win."

"I told you earlier that winning isn't everything," Mighty reassured me. "Having fun is all that matters. Besides, I don't think Jewel seems to care that she lost, right, Jewel?"

"Yep," Jewel rubbed her arm. "Honestly, the best part of this competition was being with you, Synergy. I may not know much about you, but you seem to be a really good guy. I'd like to more with you again sometime."

I wanted to retort against that, but I couldn't. Something about that statement spoke to me. I've never heard anyone say that they've wanted to hang out with me before. No one in the Nocturnus Clan has done that, that's for sure. Glancing at Jewel, I noticed that she approached me and embraced me with a small hug. Standing there for a few moments, I decided to hug her back.

"Thanks for coming with me, Synergy," Jewel smiled.

"Y-you're… Welcome," I replied. We let each other go and we shared a fist-bump. "I apologize for my outburst. I'm sorry if I sounded like a child. Thank you for reassuring me, guys. I appreciate it. You guys are better friends than the ones I had in the Nocturnus Clan."

"Hey, no problem, my dude," Tangle nudged me. "The day's still young, so let's see what else we can do before we head home for the day."

"Yeah!" everyone and I shouted, as we ventured into Empire City for more fun.

* * *

Back at the Mineral Museum, Synergy gathered Amy, Big, G-merl, Cream, the Hooligans, Mighty, Ray, Silver, Blaze, Tangle, Whisper, and Tails together for a quick moment. He wanted to show them the dress that he and Jewel made for the competition. Jewel was inside of her office getting ready for the showcase.

Synergy waited patiently.

"Ready, Jewel?" Synergy knocked on the door.

"One second!" Jewel replied. "Okay! I'm ready!"

Synergy gave a thumbs up before he walked back to the audience. "Ladies and gentlemen. It is with greatest pride and deepest pleasure to introduce to you… Miss Jewel the Beetle!"

Suddenly, Jewel opened the doors and walked out.

Everyone gasped as soon as they saw her.

Jewel was wearing the outfit that lost the Honey Clothing competition and everyone thought she looked amazing. She struck a few poses and waved at everyone nervously, worried about what they think of it.

"Eh, I've seen better," Nack commented before he was punched by Bean.

"Darling, you look fabulous!" Bean gawked over the beautiful bug. "Dare I say you look miraculous!"

"Wow, you look great, Miss Jewel," Cream clapped her hands.

"Not bad," G-merl gave a thumbs up.

"Really cool!" Tangle rooted.

" _You look nice,"_ Whisper softly smiled.

"Thanks, everyone," Jewel nodded. "Even you, Nack… I couldn't have done this alone. I want to give a shoutout to my good friend, Synergy, for helping me come up with the design. Even though we lost the competition, it's the fact that we made it together that means a lot to me. So… thank you, Synergy. You're a cool guy."

Synergy nodded and gave Jewel another hug.

Sonic, holding two chili dogs, in his hands watched the moment with a smile. He motioned to Team Chaotix. "Guys, come here."

Espio, Vector, and Charmy approached the Blue Blur.

"Well, Whaddya know," Vector folded his arms, watching Synergy interact with the others.

"Looks like Synergy's starting to change after all," Espio smiled.

"Yeah! He's gonna be a good guy like us!" Charmy squealed.

"If we can keep this up, Big's plan will end up working and we can go back to stopping Eggman," Vector nodded in agreement. He suddenly gazed his eyes upon the chili dogs. "Ooooh, don't mind if I do!"

Sonic moved both hot dogs away from Vector's hands. "Whoa, whoa, slow down there, big guy," he chuckled. "One's for me and one's for Knuckles. Speaking of which, where is he? I haven't seen him all day."

"Last time I checked, he went up to the roof," Espio replied. "He said he needed some space,"

"Yeah, he's upset that his girlfriend isn't coming back," Charmy chuckled.

"Give him a break, Charmy," Espio nudged the bee. "It's not Knuckles' fault that Shade isn't coming back. She must have her own reason for not joining us."

"Whatever it is, it's gotten Knuckles upset," Vector nodded. "Mighty and Ray tried to talk to him earlier, but he wouldn't budge. He's been on the roof for hours."

"I'll talk with him," Sonic smiled.

With that, Sonic walked out of the museum and jumped onto the windowsill. Climbing up to the roof, he saw Knuckles sitting alone on the edge. His eyes were closed, and his hands were on his knees. The blue hedgehog looked at him with a dejected look, as he made a soft smile and walked towards him.

"Hungry, Knux?"

"Huh?" Knuckles startled, looking at his blue friend. "Uh, no thanks. I'm not that hungry."

"Are you sure? You skipped out on dinner," Sonic sat down next to his friend, placing his chili dog next to him.

"Thanks, but… I'm good."

"Okay… suit yourself," Sonic replied with a tender tone, as he unwrapped his chili dog from the paper and took a bite. He moaned in satisfaction before he asked, "So, what exactly happened between you and Shade? Did you guys talk or…"

Knuckles took a deep breath. "Yeah, we talked… to an extent. When I got to the village, I was greeted by the town's owner and he took me to this concert. That's when I found out that Shade's part of a band."

Sonic swallowed another bite. "Get out, really?"

"Yep."

"That's way past cool. I didn't expect Shade to be a music lover."

"Yeah, she's really taken time to find herself in that village, ha-ha… anyways, Shade was playing her song when she saw me in the front-row seat. She stopped the music and ran off the stage. I chased after her until we finally decided to talk things out," Knuckles frowned. "That's when she told me everything."

Sonic stopped chewing. "Everything?"

Knuckles rubbed his hands together, gazing into the starry night. "She thinks that bringing you, me, and the others in the Twilight Cage was a mistake."

Sonic raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"She thinks it would've been better if she'd dealt with Lord Ix on her own instead of relying on us for help. She feels this way because she thinks she's responsible for what happened when we returned. Remember when we came back, Eggman rebuilt his empire in Metropolis? Shade blames herself for that incident, claiming that if she was brave enough to fight Ix on her own, we would have prevented Eggman from building his empire again…

"She felt horrible being ridiculed by all of those people and Eggman herself. Their words started to get to her. I tried to tell her it wasn't her fault, but she kept saying that we were angry at her for letting that happen to our world when really, it wasn't true. We stopped Eggman and Ix in the same day, but Shade… she was more focused on how we felt about her during that incident…

"She doesn't want to come back because she thinks we hate her."

Sonic took a moment to register all of that. He couldn't believe that someone like Shade would feel guilty for something that was beyond her control. Placing his chili dog beside him, he scotched toward Knuckles.

"I can't imagine how she feels right now," Sonic said.

"Yeah," Knuckles nodded. "I think me being there made her feel worse, so I left because I didn't want to upset her any longer… I wanted to tell her that it was my fault because I wasn't careful with Eggman. I should have known he'd betray us eventually."

Sonic playfully punched Knuckles' shoulder. "Dude, we were _all_ fooled by Egghead. So, Shade has no right to blame herself. Besides, I may not know how the conversation went, but I think you being there gave her a chance to think."

"Think?"

"Yeah, she's probably thinking of coming back right now. She knows we still care for her, but her paranoia is telling her otherwise. With you being there, she'll stand up to her paranoia and find out that we're not mad at her and that we miss her. Her return may not happen immediately, but it will… you can trust me on that."

Knuckles briefly looked at Sonic before he turned back to the stars. He stared at them for a few moments before he finally smiled. Looking back at the hedgehog, he held out his hand and fist-bumped his best friend.

"Thanks, Sonic… I needed that. I'm glad I have you by my side."

"Hey, don't sweat it, Knux… what kind of guy would I be if I didn't help my friends in need?"

"Right… we should get inside. Everyone's probably worried about me."

"Yep and it's getting late. We have a big day ahead of us tomorrow."

"Oh, yeah. Tomorrow's the last day we're changing Synergy, right?"

"Yep."

"Let's make it count."

"Couldn't have said it better myself."

* * *

Inside the Final Egg, Dr. Starline spent his time rebuilding Metal Sonic in his normal form. Entering the door, Rough and Tumble observed a conversation between them.

"Your mission is to head out there and find the two Gizoids," Dr. Starline ordered. "Report back to me if you find one or the other. Is that clear?"

Metal Sonic nodded and saluted the doctor. He activated his jet boosters and raced out the door.

"Hey, Boss," Rough cracked his fists. "When do we get another chance at those losers?"

"Yeah, we wanna show Sonic how's boss," Tumble added.

"Please, you two have already lost to the Resistance twice," Dr. Starline retorted. "What makes you think third time's the charm?"

"Because there's no one as strong as us," Rough smiled.

"And certainly not as humble," Tumble grinned.

"Ain't nothing gonna stop _**Rough and Tumble**_ ," the two finished their rhyme.

Dr. Starline rolled his eyes before he suddenly snapped his fingers; he got an idea. "You two want a shot at redemption?"

"More than anything," both skunks replied.

"Well, then," Dr. Starline stroked his chin. He suddenly approached a later that leaned against a sheeted object. Climbing to the top of the latter, he slowly unfolded the sheet and revealed his latest creation. "How would you two like to take this thing to Resistance HQ tomorrow night?"

Rough and Tumble's eyes jumped out of their sockets and their hearts started pumping.

"Oh, that's good," Rough rubbed his hands together.

"Just what we needed," Tumble smirked.

 _ **END OF CHAPTER 29**_

* * *

 _The Resistance's plans to change Synergy are advancing and so are Dr. Starline's plans to raid Resistance HQ. But one question remains, will the Rookies down at Resistance HQ be prepared for the upcoming invasion? I guess we'll have to wait and see. The Resistance is closer to changing Synergy, but only one day remains. Will they be able to get him to join their side against Eggman or will he be the same Synergy as before? Guess all will be told when the Around the World story arc comes to an exciting conclusion in..._

 _"Chapter 30: Around the World in Three Days: Part 3"_

* * *

 ** _POST-A/N:_**

 _If you all remember way back in Chapter 4: Into the Great Wide Open: Part 1, you'd remember that Honey the Cat and Tiara Boobowski cameoed in a scene where Knuckles was invited over to check out Resistance themed clothing. Thankfully, the red echidna didn't have to endure any fashion disasters in this chapter. But he did feel awful for Shade. Lukcily, Sonic was there to cheer him up._

 _Originally, Whisper's backstory was supposed to be revealed during this chapter. However, with Whisper's backstory, this chapter wound up being over 9,000 words long! It's crazy! Luckily, Infinite's Ruby and I were able to cut it down and she suggested I'd do the Empire City scene you all read in this chapter. I haven't written a chapter with 9,000 words since one of my old Sonic Forces stories: "Sonic Heroes: Secret Freedom". That story lasted four chapters before it was cancelled._

 _The Silver and Blaze scene was inspired by IDW Sonic Annual 2019, where there was a story titled "Victory Garden". In that story, Blaze taught Silver how to care for a garden. I didn't want to copy it, so I made some changes for the sake of this story._

 _That's pretty much all I have to say for this chapter. We're nearly at 30 chapters of Awakened and I'm more than excited to get through this arc so we can get to the climax. Until then, don't forget to R &R! I'm The Sensational SpiderDom321 and I'll see you all next time!_

 _~SD321 (SpiderDom321)_


	30. Around the World in Three Days: Pt 3

_**A/N:** Hello, everyone! Here I am again with another chapter of Awakened. This one is a special chapter because this is the first time on FanFiction that one of my stories has reached **30 chapters and over 10,000 views!** Wow, I can't believe Awakened has been around for two years (the story was written in 2018) and here we are in 2020 with 30 chapters and counting! I gotta say, it's amazing. I always used to get Writer's Block whenever a story of mine reached over 20 chapters, the fact that Awakened has 30 and I haven't decided to give up on it is impressive. I'm so happy. I want to thank my co-writer/close friend Infinite's Ruby for helping me out as well as TGN, SharpDragonKlaw, and others. There are only 10 more chapters left, so let's do it to it :)_

 ** _Suggested Music:_**

 ** _(1) Shamar (Hub World Day) - Sonic Unleashed OST_**

 ** _(2) Metal Sonic Boss Battle - Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Ep. 2 OST_**

 ** _(3) Adabat (Hub World Night) - Sonic Unleashed OST_**

 ** _(4) Cool Edge Day - Sonic Unleashed OST_**

 ** _(5) Black Bull Boss - Shadow the Hedgehog OST_**

 ** _(6) Miss You - Sonic and the Secret Rings OST_**

 ** _(7) Egg Nega Wisp (Phase 1) - Sonic Colors OST_**

 _Without further ado, enjoy the show!_

* * *

 **Around the World in Three Days: Part 3**

 _~Synergy's P.O.V. **(1)**_

Here it is… the final day of my world tour.

Gotta say I had a ton of fun exploring the world, learning about different cultures, and getting to know more about the Resistance. It's hard to believe two days went by so quickly. I guess that's what happens when you're having fun.

Anyways, the last day of my world tour began with an odd start. Instead of doing some form of activity, I stood alongside Team Hooligan in the hottest place on the planet: Shamar. From where we stood, we watched as people carried buckets of apples over their heads and shopped over at small fruit carts. Many of the people had dark skin and wore clothing with mysterious symbols on them. From what Tails told me, people wore those logos to honor their ancestors and their religions. Pretty interesting if you ask me. Unfortunately, I wasn't learning about their culture at the moment. Team Hooligan and I stood in the shade, watching civilians walk by.

"Here we are, boys, the jackpot," Nack softly chuckled, rubbing his hands together. "This place is a gold mine. A perfect place to practice our specialty."

"Dancing to obnoxiously loud music?" Bean rubbed his head.

"No, that's our _second_ specialty. I'm talking about a thief's favorite hobby; pickpocketing."

The green duck gasped with excitement. "Yes! Because my dancing skills are rusty. This fat gut can't do the Disco Ducky Tango anymore."

Bark facepalmed.

"What's pickpocketing?" I inquired, raising my hand.

Nack and Bean looked straight at me.

"Ah, nertz," Nack folded his arms. "I forgot he was here. So, Synergy. Pickpocketing is a useful skill you're gonna need in life. You see, there's gonna be a time where you want something that someone else has. Instead of offering them money, you take it from them."

"So, we're stealing?" I scratched my head.

"Not exactly stealing," Nack replied. "More like… taking something you can't live without."

"…That's stealing."

Nack, Bean, and Bark gave each other the same moody glare.

"I don't know if he's cut out for this, Sheriff," Bean nudged his boss, talking in a Western accent. "This ol' whipper snapper's giving us an attitude. Should I get my attitude adjuster?"

"First off, stop talking in that voice, it's weird," Nack groaned. "Second, trust me, Bucket-head. You're gonna need this skill in life. Bark, show him how it's done."

With that, the white polar bear cracked his knuckles and moved into the crowd. He snuck past a few pedestrians and casually walked around as if he was one of them. He walked around for a few moments before he stopped, eyeballing someone's wallet. He whistled, looking off to the side. Slowly moving in, he quickly snatched the wallet in the blink of an eye. The woman he stole from didn't even flinch; all she did was talk with her child. Bark walked back to us and handed Nack her wallet.

"Ha-ha, nice one, Bark," Nack smiled, taking the wallet. "Let's see what we've got in here."

With that, the weasel opened the wallet and pulled out a piece of paper. He raised an eyebrow and read it to himself.

"To do list: get groceries, call Spike, Sonar, and Trevor. Break up with husband. What the heck is this?" he crumbled up the paper and tossed it over his shoulder. He and Bean searched through the wallet and found nothing. "You're kidding me, right? Who walks around with no money?"

Bark and I exchanged an awkward glance.

"Whatever," Nack shook his head. "You get the picture, don't you, Synergy? Let's see if Bark's skills can rub off on you. You're a Gizoid, right? The little fox tells me your kind can copy the abilities of others. Let's see if that's true. Why don't you…"

Nack kept holding his last word, searching for someone to steal from in the crowd. He and I scanned the environment for a few seconds before we saw someone with a black cloak and red metallic shoes beside us.

"Him," the weasel finished with a grin.

"I'm not sure if I can do this," I told him. "How would Sonic and the others react to this?"

"They'll understand… just kidding, they won't because they'll never find out, shush! Okay, go get em', tiger."

Pushing me into the crowd, the Hooligans watched me get to work.

At first, my body froze; I had no idea what the heck I was doing. Yes, I did have the ability to copy moves from others, but most of the moves in my system are combat-related. Pickpocketing has nothing to do with combat whatsoever. But I didn't want to make myself look like a fool, so I moved in for the kill.

Sneaking past the crowd, I slowly approached the black-cloaked man, but he turned to the right. Panicking, I leaped to the side of a building, hiding in the shadows. I watched Nack, Bean, and Bark mouth to one another. Sneering at the man, I quietly moved forward and turned my back away from him. I scanned his cloak and discovered his wallet sitting in the back corner of his pocket. Rubbing my fingers, I looked around one last time before I snatched the wallet in the blink of an eye.

Nack, Bean, and Bark's eyes widened.

Then… I held up my prize.

"Atta boy, Synergy!" Nack cheered softly.

Before I went back to them, I heard a voice come beside me. It was the man I stole from.

"Pickpocketing is a very useful skill, Synergy… but it won't do you any good in the Eggman Empire." _**(1s)**_

Turning the man, I watched him rip off his cloak. Everyone in the crowd stopped what they were doing and dropped all of their belongings on the sand. They gasped and started panicking…

…the cloaked man was Metal Sonic.

Nack, Bean, and Bark's faces went pale.

"Uh, oh," Nack said. "That ain't good." _**(2)**_

Metal Sonic cracked his fingers, as I tossed his wallet to the side. I got down into a battle pose and observed people running away from what was about to be our donnybrook.

"How many times do I have to destroy you?" I asked.

"You were lucky during those times," Metal answered. "This time, we're fighting on _my_ terms. This is your last chance to surrender to the Eggman Empire."

"Not gonna happen, Copycat!"

"Fine… you've had your chance!"

Metal dashed forward and took a few swipes at me; I dodged each of them and kicked him in the chest. I curled into a ball and spun dashed into him, sending him crashing into a set of barrels. Just as I threw a punch, he blocked my fist and kicked me in my side, blasting me in the chest with a wave of purple energy. I snarled and activated my Knuckles Emulation. My hands drilled into the robot, but at the last second, he formed a black shield around his body, blocking my attacks. He then deactivated his shield and tackled me.

As we fought, I could hear a conversation from Team Hooligan escalating.

"Welp, I'm out of here," Nack turned around and walked away.

"Hey, hey, where are you going?" Bean snarled.

"I'm not getting arrested by the Eggman Empire."

"Yeah, but we can't just leave this dude. He's gonna get captured by Eggman."

"I missed the part where that's my problem."

"Yeah, but if he gets captured, Mr. Needlemouse and his band of goodie-two-shoes are gonna have us arrested by G.U.N. and I don't think you wanna go back to those bathrooms."

Nack's eyes widened. I'm not sure what the duck meant by that, but I was more focused on fighting against Metal. As I was pinned to the ground, I watched the weasel turn around and whip out his popgun. He loaded it and jumped out into the spotlight, shooting corks at the robot's head. Bean jumped on top of Metal's face and punched him twice, but he was grabbed and slammed into his boss's chest.

Bark grabbed Metal and bashed him against the wall.

"You have the Hooligans helping you?" Metal chuckled. "Pathetic. Are you really that weak, Synergy?"

"Ain't nothing wrong with having a little backup," I quipped. "Something you should've thought of before you came here."

"I don't need anyone's help to finish you!"

Just as Metal leaped forward, Bark grabbed him again and held him tight.

"Get clear, get clear, I'm about to make some fireworks!" Bean, holding a bomb in his hands, shouted. He chucked it forward and it landed on the ground. Bark dropped Metal on top of the bomb and evaded to the side. The robot chuckled evilly and pressed his fingers against the ignited string; he diffused the bomb.

"Did you seriously think a black sphere with a string was going to stop me?" he inquired.

With a huge smirk on his face, the green duck shook his head and snapped his fingers…

…the bomb exploded in Metal's face. _**(2s)**_

A puff of smoke clouded our vision. We covered our eyes and wiped away the smoke. From there, we looked at the aftermath of Metal's defeat and saw the robot buried underneath a pile of rubble. His red eyes were shaped like spirals and he laid motionless against the sand. Bean approached the robot and stepped on his head, wiping his hands.

"You dare underestimate my power?" he asked.

Before he could throw another one-liner, the duck was cut off by the sound of clapping from the distance. People hiding in their homes came out into the streets and cheered for all of us. Nack placed his gun away and Bark rubbed his fists. We all stood together, as the crowd gathered around us, applauding, whistling, and thanking us for our heroism.

The Hooligans were shocked, but Bean let out a smile.

"Thank you, citizens, thank you," he joked. "All in the days work for the Fearsome Foursome. I'm sure that name's taken, but I'm using it for now."

Nack stared at the crowd before he started to smile. "Huh… what the heck is this tingly feeling inside me?... is this… happiness?"

"It's a skill you're gonna need in life," I wrapped my arm around Nack's shoulder. The weasel rolled his eyes. Bean and Bark shared a laugh with us, as he waved the people goodbye and went on our way. "Now, let's do something _fun_ this time. I want to get as much done before we head back to the Mineral Museum."

Venturing through the town, we searched for more adventure.

* * *

 _~Synergy's P.O.V. (Continued) **(3)**_

"What do you think, Espio?"

"According to this evidence, Vector… the thieves probably went this way."

"Man, I'm hungry! Can we get something to eat after this?"

"Hush, Charmy! We're in the middle of a case!"

"Blah, blah, blah! I'm hungry, Vector!"

In a beachy environment known as Adabat, I walked down a sandy pathway in a forest alongside Team Chaotix, Mighty, and Ray. At first, we were brought here to spend some time on the beach; however, the locals reported that thieves were stealing fresh coconuts from their trees. Apparently, a big thing to do in this place was to drink fresh milk from coconuts. I've never experienced that before in the Nocturnus Clan, but you know what they say, you learn something new every day.

Like right now, we were about to learn who stole these coconuts.

As we strolled down the path, we noticed that coconut shells were scattered across the grass.

"Whoever did this, they really stink at hiding evidence," Mighty chuckled, touching one of the coconuts. "Why would anyone steal milk from coconuts when they can easily buy some at the store?"

"Actually, Mighty," Espio chimed in. "People in Adabat don't sell milk in stores like they do in other places. In this country, they'd go into the forest and find fresh milk from coconuts. It's a nice way of using the environment, but you also have to be professional when it comes to this stuff. Meaning that you'd have to be an expert climber to get half of these coconuts."

"Unless you're awesome like me and can fly!" Charmy chuckled.

"Yes, Charmy," Espio mirrored his gesture.

"I know I made this joke before, but I really wish I was a real Mobian or a human," I folded my arms. "Half of the food I've seen makes me want to jump down and eat it all!"

"I feel your pain, man," Mighty patted my shoulder. "But hey, you are who you are. You shouldn't be upset about that."

"Yeah, I guess so… I just wish I could eat dumplings. Those looked delicious."

Suddenly, we heard a crack in the bushes. _**(3s)**_

"What was that?" Charmy gasped.

"Shush!" Vector hushed all of us, as we slowly tip-toed towards the bushes. Vector looked back at us once again and motioned to Espio, telling him to step forward. He did so and he grabbed one side of the bush. "Okay, everyone. When I say go, attack whoever's there, got it?"

"C-c-could it b-be the b-b-b-b-bad guys?" Ray inquired.

"Who knows?" Charmy replied. "But don't worry, Ray. If anything happens, I got your back."

"T-thanks, Charmy," Ray smiled. "M-m-me too."

"Everyone ready?" Vector asked.

All of us nodded at once.

"One," Vector mouthed. "Two… _three!_ "

With Vector and Espio pulling back the bushes, Ray, Charmy, Mighty and I leaped through like a pack of wild wolves. We tackled a mysterious shadow in front of us and pinned it down to the ground. A broken coconut fell out of its hands. Milk spilled out and flowed across the sand.

"Ow! Hey, man!"

The voice sounded familiar.

"Wait a minute," Charmy rubbed his head. All of us jumped off the figure and we were all shocked to see who it was…

…It was Bean.

" _BEAN!?_ " All of us shouted at once.

"Sheesh, if you guys wanted some, all you had to do was ask," the duck scoffed, brushing his fur.

"What are you doing out here!?" Mighty snarled.

"W-w-w-why are you s-s-stealing all the c-c-coconuts?" Ray inquired.

"Duh, so I can make this," Bean pointed over his shoulder.

Each of us looked forward and saw a large fort made entirely out of coconuts. There was a wide-open door and giant holes meant for windows. Beside the house was a mailbox and a sign that read, _"Casa De Bean"_. Everyone, even I, couldn't help but cringe.

"You like it?" Bean asked happily. "I've been debating on what I should make the furniture out of."

The duck reached down and took out a pair of yellow and pink objects from a metal bucket.

"I also found a yellow sponge and a pink starfish in the ocean. I thought of using them for something, but I am not sure what you can do with a sponge and a starfish."

As everyone kept the same face as before, I couldn't help but laugh. I slapped my knee caps and laughed my head off. If I had lungs, I'd say I couldn't breathe because of how hard I laughed. Everyone looked at me as if I was crazy. Even Bean was thrown off by my behavior.

"Uh… is he supposed to do that?" he asked.

As I laid on the sand below my feet, I continued laughing.

* * *

 _~Synergy's P.O.V. (Continued) **(4)**_

" _WHOOOOOO HOOOOOO!_ " Tangle shouted at the top of her lungs. "This is so awesome!"

Her, Whisper, and I took a trip down to the coldest region of Mobius: Holoska. We were in the middle of sliding down the mountain in a strange contraption called a bobsled. To work this vehicle, three or four people have to steer in the same direction at the same time.

This would be simple for us…

…if Tangle could just sit still.

" _Oh yeeeeeeeaaaaaaaah! Whoooo hoooo!_ " She shouted again, as she moved to the left and to the right, making this light-weight bobsled move in different directions. I found myself sitting behind her, screaming at the highest pitch my voice could go. Whisper didn't show much fear as I did, but her Wisps were the opposite.

Turning around, I could tell Whisper was afraid we would crash into something, but she didn't show it. Although, she did hug one of her Wisps, hoping that we'd make it out okay.

She gave me a look and she shook her head.

" _Let's hope we make it out of here in one piece,"_ she told me.

"Likewise," I replied. My voice shook as I spoke.

Tangle drove us up the edge of an iceberg before we fell straight down to the bottom. We drove down a slide and went up and around a loop-de-loop. The lemur snickered, cackled, howled, and snorted as we rode through the snow; Whisper and I were hoping to get off soon.

I know I sound negative when I say that, but it would be more fun if Tangle didn't drive us down a dangerous pathway.

"Isn't this fun, you guys?" Tangle turned and asked us. "Why aren't you screaming? This is amazing!"

" _It's okay,"_ Whisper answered.

"It would be more awesome if we weren't about to hit _that_!" I pointed.

The lemur turned around and noticed that we were about to hit two icemakers chopping blocks of ice with their axes. All three of us shouted loudly, as we all turned to the left in unison.

Luckily, we drifted past the icemakers and we came to a sudden stop, spooking the heck out a few more people. Everyone turned their eyes towards us and shouted, "Watch where you're going!"

The bobsled halted on the snow, nearly tipping us over. _**(4s)**_

Tangle was the first to hop out of the vehicle, pumping her fists and bouncing on her tail. "Wow! That was intense! My blood is pumping! Remember when we slid down that one slope and nearly fell off the ledge, but I grabbed that pole with my tail and saved us!? Gosh, that was so incredible! Oh, oh! And remember when we nearly hit these people just now!"

She approached Whisper and wrapped her arm around her shoulder.

"We should watch where we're going next time!"

Suddenly, Whisper pulled out her weapon and pressed it against Tangle's chest, pushing her back.

"Whoops!" Tangle backed away from the silent wolf. "Personal boundaries… right. So, what should we do now?"

"Not sure," I shrugged. "You two are the bosses around here. What do _you_ think we should do?"

" _We should head home,"_ Whisper answered, as she started walking back.

"W-what?" Tangle exclaimed. "But why? We just got here!"

" _It's getting late."_

"So?"

" _The Resistance would want us back to the Mineral Museum. We've had enough fun for today."_

"Oh, come on! Don't be such a party pooper!"

" _I'm… not being a party pooper… I just… I just want to go home."_

I shared a glance with the lemur.

"Are you all right, Whisper?" I inquired. "You've seemed distressed since I met you. Is there something wrong?"

" _It's nothing, Synergy,"_ she shook her head, tugging on her mask. _"You and Tangle and continue exploring this area. I'm heading back to the museum-"_

" _HEEEEEEEEEEEELP!_ " a sudden voice cried in the far distance. The three of us turned around to see what was going on. We didn't see much…

…aside from an explosion in the distance. _**(5)**_

"Whoa, what's happening there?" I rubbed my head.

"Not sure, but we better check things out!" Tangle gently punched my arm. "Come on, guys! Let's do it to it!"

Whisper loaded her Variable Wispon and ran after the lemur. I halted for a bit before I joined them.

Running down the snowy environment, we suddenly came across a village that was overrun by abstract robots.

These machines were shaped like bumblebees, ladybugs, turtles, etc. Some of them were even shaped by the same Dr. Eggman character I ran into in the Mystic Jungle. And others were giant purple behemoths with massive hammers in their hands.

They terrorized a local town in front of us.

Burning down homes, smacking igloos to pieces, and even stepping on food carts. These robots weren't screwing around and the fact that they took their anger out on these innocent people made me want to unleash my rage onto them.

In other words, I wanted to give them a taste of their own medicine.

"Oh, my gosh!" Tangle cupped her hands over her mouth. "Rogue Badniks!?"

"Rogue Badniks?" I inquired.

Tangle turned to me. "After the Phantom Ruby War ended and Eggman escaped G.U.N. custody, there's been a series of Badnik attacks in random areas. I guess the Resistance missed some here in Holoska."

"Phantom Ruby War?" I questioned again.

"Never mind, it's a long story."

" _They'll pay for what they're doing!"_ Whisper cocked her weapon, as she ran forward and used her Cube Hammer to slam the ground, forming blue shock waves that stunned a few ladybug robots. She then activated Rocket mode and launched orange projectiles to bumblebee drones above her head.

"Let's do this!" Tangle hollered, waving her fist in the air.

Thanks to her flexible tail, she was able to wrap herself around three robots and tear them in half in the blink of an eye. I followed close behind Whisper and shot my right arm forward; I extended my claws and scratched multiple drones in half before they could step on someone's igloo.

Rushing towards a family of three by the ice house, I grabbed them and avoided the massive purple behemoth in front of me; it nearly stepped on me. I activated my jet boosters and dashed forward, where I ran past Tangle and Whisper.

The two of them tackled the gigantic drone; the wolf bashed its head in with her hammer.

I laid the family down on the ground, but I noticed that their baby daughter was crying.

"What's wrong?" I asked. She pointed to something that sat in the middle of the battlefield.

A stuffed bear.

"Seriously?" I rubbed my head. "You want that?"

She nodded her head.

"Okay then," I shrugged.

Swerving away from the corner, I ran down the snowy field in hopes of getting that bear, but just as it was within my reach, a giant foot kicked it away from me. The toy flew to the left and slide across the ice, where it almost landed in the frozen water. I internally panicked and rushed towards it before I was suddenly shot at by ballistic missiles.

Turning around, I realized that some of the ladybug robots had rocket launchers stuck on their shells. They fired more missiles at me, and I evaded most of them; one of them got me in the chest.

Where I found myself skidding across the ground, I got back up and snarled at the cyborgs.

But they just kept firing projectiles at me.

"Buzz off!" I grunted at them, as I activated my Knuckles Emulation and drilled deep into the robots, ripping them to shreds, watching circuitry fly all over the place, and tearing them piece by piece. I finished off both of them before I went to grab the stuffed animal.

But as I grabbed it, I heard a shout from Whisper.

" _ **NO!**_ _"_ She howled at the top of her lungs. _"Come back!"_

I looked to my right and saw her chasing after a piece of paper flying across the wind.

 _Really?_ I thought. _The town's being attacked, and you're worried about a piece of paper? And I thought I was stupid._

" _Come back!"_ she shouted again. She jumped up to grab the paper, but she missed it. _"No, no, no! I can't lose that!"_

Holding the doll in my hand, I looked at it before my green eyes gazed upon Whisper and the paper. I wasn't sure what to do until I saw that Tangle was nearly finished with the robots.

"Hey, guys!" she called, as she was punched by a robot resembling Eggman. "I could use some help here!"

She was bombarded with more enemies.

"Hands off, guys!" she snarled at them. "Take an easy, will ya?"

I was stuck in the middle; I couldn't decide what to do.

Should I help Tangle protect the village or should I help Whisper fetch her item? Whatever that paper is, it looked important to Whisper and I knew losing it would make her feel bad. I looked at her and watched as she dealt with more enemies, hoping to get her item back. But I looked at Tangle and saw that enemies grabbed her by the tail and slammed her around like a ragdoll.

What would Sonic and the Resistance do in a situation like this?

I couldn't think any longer, I had to do something fast!

Looking at the stuffed animal, I forcefully lunged it upward into the air. Then, I cracked the circuits in my fingers and dashed towards Tangle. Activating my Knuckles Emulation again, I drilled deep into the robots that attacked her as fast as I could. I then copied Sonic's Spin Dash ability into my biodata and homed in on five enemies. Rolling into them caused them to explode, to which I untucked and stood up on my feet. Tangle managed to finish off the rest of the enemies, whereas I jumped on top of a food cart, leaped off a few rooftops, spun off a chimney, and vaulted through the air.

Reaching my arm forward, I grabbed the piece of paper Whisper was chasing.

Tangle smacked three more enemies.

Whisper stopped in her tracks.

The stuffed animal fell into my hands.

And the battle was finally over. _**(5s)**_

People came out of their hiding places and cheered for us, clapping their hands and waving their arms. I looked over at the people, as they came over and patted my shoulders, thanking me and my friends for saving their town. Tangle shook hands with everyone and Whisper silently waved. It was at that moment I returned the stuffed animal to the infant and her mother thanked me. Just as the family and the other people walked away to rebuild their town, I glanced down at the picture, curious as to what it was…

…I was met with shocking results.

Turns out it wasn't an ordinary piece of paper; it was a picture of Whisper surrounded by other Mobians. To her right was a purple and light grey mimic octopus. To her left was a teal, turquoise, and white ocelot. Behind the trio was a brown-furred lion and on the bottom was a green howler monkey. Each of them was surrounded by Wisps and they all wore similar attire as Whisper.

Who were these people?

Whisper approached me and I gently handed the picture to her. Tangle later came towards us.

"H-here… you dropped this," I said.

Whisper tugged on her mask and took her picture back. _"Thank you… I didn't expect you to get it for me, but… thank you."_

Tangle looked over Whisper's shoulder, snooping at the photo.

"Whoa, who are those guys?" she inquired. "Is that you? You guys look so cool! You're like a team of superheroes!"

Whisper chuckled. _"Thanks… you can say we're superheroes, but that's not what we were."_

"If you don't mind me asking, who are they?"

Whisper hesitated to answer the lemur's question at first. Taking off her mask, she took a deep breath and sat down on a rock behind us. Tangle and I sat down next to her.

"Are you all right, Whisper?" Tangle inquired.

" _I-I'm fine… s-sorry,"_ the wolf replied.

"You don't have to tell us if you don't want to."

" _No, no, it's okay… I'll tell you." **(6)**_

Whisper took another deep breath and placed her hands on her knees. _"Long ago, I was part of an Anti-Eggman mercenary team called the Diamond Cutters. There were five of us,"_ she showed us the photo again, pointing to everyone around her. _"Smithy the Lion, our crafter. Slinger the Ocelot, our marksman, Claire Voyance, our psychic op… and Mimic, the infiltrator."_

The names were awesome, and their clothes were amazing in my opinion.

" _We were always hired to take on the most dangerous missions…"_ Whisper's face dropped, and she prevented a tear from escaping her eyes. _"I thought we were all committed to the cause."_

Tangle and I exchanged a glance.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

Whisper held her mask in her hands. _"A couple of weeks before the Phantom Ruby War, the Diamond Cutters and I were hired by G.U.N. to investigate an Eggman Base in the middle of Green Hill Zone. Mimic planned out the whole operation. He, Smithy, Slinger, and Claire will infiltrate the base and download data relating to Eggman's plan. I asked what my role was, and Claire told me to be the lookout in case anything went wrong…_

" _I was reluctant to obey her command; however, she assured me that everything would be okay. A few hours later, I waited outside the Arsenal Pyramid and scanned through the video feed on my mask. Our masks were networked, allowing us to review our missions and study each other's tactics. I played back a live feed through Claire's mask and I saw that everyone made it into the base…_

" _Claire, Smithy, and Slinger were investigating an area filled with canisters that had small rubies inside. But there was something off, Mimic wasn't with them. I tried to see where he was, but I couldn't reach his mask's signal. I've contacted him a few times, but he hasn't responded. That's when it happened."_

Whisper froze in the middle of her sentence and she clenched her fists.

She prevented more tears from escaping, but they flowed down her cheeks like rain.

I may not have known Whisper for as long as the Resistance has, but I knew this wasn't her normal behavior. Tangle hesitated to wrap her arm around the wolf's shoulder because she knew that Whisper was sensitive when it came to personal space.

But she decided it was the right thing to do.

And surprisingly, Whisper didn't mind. For she wrapped her finger's around Tangle's hand.

I had a feeling that if she told us how she lost the Diamond Cutters, she would feel worse.

"It's okay…" I spoke softly. "You don't have to tell us if you don't want to."

Whisper looked at me in the eyes and sniffed. Wiping away her tears, she managed to pull it together. As much as I would like to know what happened, I didn't want to make her feel worse. But from the looks of it, she was about to tell us the truth.

" _I managed to get a connection between my mask and Mimic's… and that's when I found out he wasn't who we thought he was. Turns out he was working for Dr. Eggman; he'd been leading all of us into a trap,"_ Whisper continued with a soft sigh, _"Claire, Smithy, and Slinger were ambushed by an army of drones that looked like Shadow, they were all lead by a team of five marauders: a water-like creature, Metal Sonic, a red monster, Shadow the Hedgehog, and a masked Jackal with a ruby in his chest… he commanded them through combat…_

" _Mimic managed to get out of there and disguised himself as Slinger, hoping to finish me off. Using my stealth, I hid in the trees. Thankfully, he didn't find me. As I watched him walk away, I jumped down and raced into the factory, praying that my friends were still alive… they weren't._

" _I couldn't find their bodies. All I could find were their Wisps and masks… I thought they escaped… but the pessimist inside told me I had to accept the fact they were gone for good."_

Tangle and I exchanged a sorrowful glance. I guess this Dr. Eggman person is more sinister than I thought. When he attacked me in Mystic Jungle, I thought he was just a goofball with wacky machinery. This was something else.

" _Since then, I swore revenge against Mimic. I spent my days searching for him, praying that I'd make him pay for what he's done. Unfortunately, the Phantom Ruby War got in my way. I helped the Resistance a few times during the War, but I never joined their team."_

"I guess that's why Silver calls you the Guardian Angel," Tangle said.

" _Yes."_

"But wait," Tangle also spoke. "I heard from Sonic and Amy that you attacked Shadow in White Park. Did he really do such a thing? If so, how could he be so heartless!? He's a G.U.N. yet he has the gall to do _this_ to you!"

" _No, no… the Shadow that killed the Diamond Cutters was a clone made by that jackal. I attacked Shadow in White Park out of impulse. I knew he was the real deal, but I let my emotions get the best of me… I'm just glad he didn't end my life."_

Tangle looked at me again before she turned to Whisper. "If you were out looking for Mimic… why did you join the Resistance now? All they were doing was looking for Synergy."

" _I guess… I guess… I guess I didn't want to be alone anymore."_

Tangle let out a soft gasp before she found herself wrapped in Whisper's arm. The wolf softly cried into her shoulder. Her Wisps came out of her cloak and joined in the hug. Tangle frowned and hugged her back; her tail wrapped around everyone, including herself. I was tempted to join in the group hug, but as I sat and watched Whisper let it out…

…I thought of something better.

 _~END OF P.O.V. **(6s)**_

* * *

Back at the Mineral Museum, Synergy was hard at work.

"Glue… Scissors… Tape… More glue, please."

Joined by Silver, G-merl, Cream, and Blaze, Synergy was in the middle of making a frame for Whisper's photo of the Diamond Cutters. He figured that if she were to go into battle again, the photo would be lost like it almost was in Holoska. Synergy took a pair of scissors and cut out a strip of blue paper. He placed it on the tip of the frame.

"Marker,"

"What color, Mr. Synergy?" Cream asked with a smile.

"Purple, please," Synergy replied. Cream happily gave him the color he asked for and he drew on the paper. He then took the photo and gently placed it in the frame, sealing it with a small lock. He stood it up and cracked his knuckles, beholding his creation.

"Wow, that looks good," Silver patted the Gizoid's shoulder.

"You think she'll like it?" Synergy asked.

"I'm sure she will," Blaze replied, mirroring Silver's gesture. "But we won't know until we give it to her."

With that, Synergy picked up the frame and approached Whisper, who sat by Tangle, Ray, and Mighty. He tapped her on the shoulder and handed her the frame.

"I made this for you," he said. "Just so you wouldn't lose it anymore."

In shock, Whisper gently took the frame and analyzed it. Each of the four sides had different colored paper taped onto it: red on top, green on the right, yellow on the left, and blue on the bottom. All four sides were covered in Wisp decals. And last but not least, written in purple marker, was a label that said, _"My Family"_.

A tear dripped from Whisper's cheek.

"Aww, that's sweet," Tangle commented.

"Nicely done, Synergy," G-merl patted his fellow android on the back.

Whisper jumped up, gazed into the Gizoid's eyes, and gave him a hug.

"… _thank you."_ She whispered.

Synergy hugged her back. "You're welcome."

Sonic and Amy watched the whole thing.

"Aww, isn't that sweet?" the latter cupped her hands together, turning to the former. "You know, Sonic. It wouldn't be bad if _you_ made me something like that."

"Sorry, Ames. But arts and crafts isn't my forte," Sonic chuckled. "But I gotta admit, I'm surprised to see how much Synergy has changed."

Tails approached the two hedgehogs. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but we did it. We changed Synergy."

"Yes, we did, little buddy… heh, I'm not much for nostalgia, but these three days have given me a lot of memories of Emerl. Remember when he was just a mindless drone… now look at him," the hedgehog pointed to G-merl. "He's like a little kid that's all grown up."

"Remember when he used to call me Mom?" Amy teased, nudging the hedgehog.

"What? No, I don't remember that."

"Sure you do. I said I was his Mama and you were like his Dad."

"No way! I don't remember anything like that. You're crazy."

" _I'm_ crazy? There's no way! I remember Emerl call you his dad. He used to copy every single thing you did, like a little kid copying his parent. In other words, you and I were parents and he was our son!"

"Stop saying that! It's creepy!"

"I seem to remember that too," Tails raised his hand.

"Hey! You're supposed to be on my side," Sonic gently punched Tails' shoulder. The trio shared a laugh before they were met by Knuckles, who was messing around on his Miles Electric. "How are you doing, Fearless Leader?"

"I'm trying to get in touch with the Resistance, but they're not responding," Knuckles replied. "I wonder what's going on."

"I guess they're so busy, they can't answer the phone," Amy replied. "Why don't you sit down and take an easy, Knuckles? You've been using that thing all day."

The Echidna briefly stared at the communicator before he let out a low sigh.

"Yeah, I guess you're right, Amy," Knuckles nodded. "I just hope everything's okay."

* * *

Meanwhile, at Resistance HQ, things went from bad to worse… _**(7)**_

 _ **KRAKOOM!**_

 _ **BOOM!**_

 _ **KABLAM!**_

Resistance HQ was under attack by a squadron of Super Badniks: Camerons, Egg Hammers, and super-powered Egg Pawns. Every soldier grabbed their Wispon and fired heavily a the robots, shooting them down with ease; however, once the Egg Hammers stepped in, the soldiers backed away. The Super Badniks raised their weapons and smacked soldiers from the left and right, bypassing their defenses effortlessly.

Captain Rex was operating a gun turret. "Ready… aim… fire!"

Shooting multiple lasers at the Super Badniks, he managed to destroy three of them at once. But that didn't stop something else from thwarting his plans. A loud rumbling sound came from the underground. Captain Rex wondered what it was until his answer came the hard way; the ground began to crumble beneath him. He jumped out of the way, as a massive object spawned from the dirt.

It was a large four-piloted drill that was the size of a mountain. It was blue and gold and had a gigantic drill on the very front. Even though there were four cockpits, the two that operated it, for now, were none other than Rough and Tumble.

"Better get out of the way," Rough smirked.

"Or be prepared to stumble!" Tumble added.

The two skunks finished their rhyme. " _There's no escaping from_ _ **Rough and Tumble!**_ "

Gadget, Fuchsia, and Corvin hid behind a few crates and lashed out at a few Badniks; destroying them with their Wispons. The cat kicked an Egg Pawn in the face.

"Did those two just rhyme?" Corvin inquired.

"Gadget, what's going on?" Fuchsia asked with worry. "Where's Commander Knuckles?"

"I'm not sure," Gadget replied, shielding himself from an Egg Hammer with a ray of fire. "I tried contacting him, but I lost my Miles Electric during the fight."

"Look!" Corvin pointed. "Someone's coming!"

Upon the donnybrooks in the lair, a shadowy figure nonchalantly walked without a care…

…It was Dr. Starline.

With his Warp Topaz glowing, he stopped once he encountered the three soldiers.

"Good evening, my friends," he smiled, cracking his knuckles. "You have something of the Doctor's, and he would like it back."

"Who are you!?" Gadget snarled.

"My name is Doctor Starline; right-hand man of Dr. Ivo Robotnik. I heard a rumor that you have a Gizoid he made a while ago. I need that Gizoid to help him with a project… so, please. If you'd be so kind, hand it over."

"Like, we're gonna give it up so easily, Mr. Quack!" Corvin quipped, charging his Drill Wispon. "This is for invading our home!"

He charged forward but was suddenly sucked inside the Warp Topaz's portal. He reappeared behind Dr. Starline, where the platypus punched him across the jaw.

"If you insist," the platypus replied, as he kicked Corvin's chest.

"Leave him alone!" Fuchsia shot a void sphere from her weapon. But Dr. Starline created a portal and watched it go through. Wondering where it could've gone, Fuchsia heard a strange noise come from behind. Just as she turned around…

…she was hit by her own projectile.

"Honey!" Gadget rushed towards her, holding her unconscious body in his arms. Angry, he lunged forward. "You're gonna pay for that!"

Shooting a ray of fire, Gadget hoped he'd turn the platypus into a fried meal, but that wasn't the case. Dr. Starline made another portal and sent the fire elsewhere; however, he couldn't avoid a quick jab to the mouth and a kick to the chest. Gadget smacked him across the bill with his Wispon and pinned him against the ground. Raising his weapon, the wolf growled with determination, as he slammed his weapon down.

But something blocked his attack.

Dr. Starline opened his eyes and saw Metal Sonic standing over him, shielding himself and his master from Gadget's attack. Deactivating his shield, Metal Sonic grabbed the Wispon and kicked Gadget in the chest. He threw the Wispon over his shoulder.

"Took you long enough," Dr. Starline said, brushing his purple coat. "Any luck finding G-merl and/or Synergy?"

"I located the latter in Shamar, but he escaped."

"Some hunter you turned out to be."

"However, I managed to track him down. The Hooligans said they're going back to a Mineral Museum in Spiral Hill Village. I marked it down on my GPS. Sonic and the others should be there."

"In that case, I take back what I said. Excellent work, Metal Sonic… Now, if you excuse me, I need to fetch the Doctor's key to destroying Sonic. Keep the Resistance busy, will ya? Oh, and keep an eye on Rough and Tumble. I think they're having too much fun."

"No promises," Metal Sonic replied, as he took off faster than the speed of light.

Dr. Starline walked up the stairs and entered through the Resistance's office room. From there, he saw the prototype Emerl sitting on the table; its red eyes were still blinking. He approached it and removed the wires the held it down. Picking it up, he placed it on his shoulder.

"The Doctor's going to be mad at me for going against his orders," he said to himself. "But once he sees the prize I've brought for him, he'll understand."

Exiting out of the office, Dr. Starline whistled. "Let's get out of here! Our work here is done!"

"Coming, Boss!" Tumble replied. He and Rough steered the machine down the path and stopped in front of their boss. Dr. Starline climbed on top of the mech and opened the third cockpit. He sat inside and closed the capsule.

Metal Sonic followed the mech, as them and the Badniks left through the ruins of Resistance HQ. _**(7s)**_

Nearly everything was destroyed, and the heroes were unconscious. Well, most of them were anyway. Gadget and Corvin helped a few soldiers up on their feet. Fuchsia, coughing, walked towards her friends. They showered her with hugs.

"Are you all right?" Gadget asked.

"I'm fine," Fuchsia replied with a cough followed by a smile. "I've been through worse."

Suddenly, a voice was heard.

"Hey! Who's out there!?"

The awakened soldiers looked to their left and saw multiple G.U.N. soldiers approach them with their weapons. Team Dark and Commander Abraham Tower walked beside them. Shadow and Rouge ran towards Gadget, Corvin, and Fuchsia.

"Are you guys all right?" Shadow inquired. "What happened here?"

Fuchsia coughed once more. "It was some guy named Starline. He-"

Before she could explain what happened, the cat was shot in the shoulder by a tranquilizer dart. She fell on her back, unconscious.

Shadow and Rouge gasped.

"Fuchsia!? Fuchsia!?" Corvin shook the cat by her shoulders, but nothing worked. He glared at Shadow and Rouge. "Hey, what gives-"

He was shot too and fell onto the ground.

Shadow and Rouge looked around; Omega and the other soldiers were shooting the Resistance members with tranquilizer darts. The destructive robot picked them up and threw them in the back of the G.U.N. assault truck. His teammates angrily stormed forward.

"What are you doing!?" Rouge snarled.

"UNDER COMMANDER TOWER'S ORDERS, ANYONE INVOLVED WITH THE RESISTANCE IS UNDER ARREST," Omega replied. "THE RESISTANCE IS WANTED FOR HELPING A WANTED CRIMINAL."

"But these guys were attacked by Eggman!" Shadow retorted. "You can't arrest them when they were just attacked! Besides, I thought you wanted to help the Resistance."

"I DO… BUT I CANNOT GO AGAINST COMMANDER TOWER'S DIRECT ORDERS."

Shadow looked at his commander and walked towards him. "Commander, this is insane. These guys were just invaded by an associate of Eggman. We have to be going after the real problem."

"Synergy is the real problem at the moment, Shadow," Commander Tower replied. "We'll arrest Dr. Eggman once Synergy and the Resistance are behind bars."

"But, Commander-"

"I don't want to hear any more of this, Shadow. Unless you want a repeat of our relationship during the Black Arms invasion, you are to follow my orders without question. Do I make myself clear?"

Shadow had nothing to say.

"Are you deaf? Do I make myself _clear?_ "

The ebony hedgehog folded his arms and sighed. "Yes."

"Good. Everyone, let's get moving! Load them in the truck and head back to HQ!"

With Commander Tower walking away, Rouge approached Shadow.

"Shadow," she said. "I know they won't forgive us for this, but we have to call them."

"Way ahead of you," Shadow replied, typing on his Miles Electric. He pressed on Tails' name and waited for a response. But he was left with a voicemail, so he left a message. "Tails, whenever you hear this… Rouge and I have something to tell you."

 _ **END OF CHAPTER 30**_

* * *

 _HOLY SMOKES!? Did G.U.N. just arrest everyone's favorite rookies? What's wrong with them!? Unfortunately, since the Resistance has been hiding out with Synergy for the past three days, that means their soldiers are targets. Now that they're arrested and Starline has taken the Elemental Prototype, things are starting to escalate quickly. Which means we're now approaching the third act of Awakened. The final battle is upon us and we'll see how far the Resistance will go to save the world and keep Synergy out of harm's way. May the Mobian Lords help us all._

 _Our third act starts in..._

 _"Chapter 31: The Gizoid Crisis"_

* * *

 ** _POST-A/N:_**

 _Originally, the rest of the Resistance wasn't supposed to be arrested until Chapter 31, but I figured since Starline invaded Resistance HQ in this chapter, I would squeeze in that small scene. I know Omega would side with Shadow and Rouge in a situation like this, but he really wants to harm Synergy and Eggman, he has no choice but to follow Commander Tower's orders. So it looks like Shadow and Rouge are going to have to track down the Resistance if they want to help them in their final showdown with Eggman... or maybe the final battle involves someone else. Who knows? ;)._

 _Shade was also supposed appear in this chapter. Her and Elder Scruffy were supposed to have a conversation, but I think that should be saved for a later chapter. I cannot confirm when Shade will return to the Resistance, but I can say this, expect her to make a dramatic entrance._

 _As much as I love the IDW Sonic Comics (SPOILER WARNING), it sucks that Starline is no longer associated with Eggman. All he wanted to do was suggest another alternative to the Metal Virus cure, but Eggman decided to steal his Warp Topaz and jack slap him into a portal. Maybe Starline's chilling with a forgotten Infinite, who's going, "So, what are you in for?" I didn't want to do a subplot in here where Starline and Eggman part ways._

 _As usual, thank you so much for reading! Be sure to R &R. I'm The Sensational SpiderDom321, the Sonic movie is still awesome, and I'll see you all next time!_

 _~SD321 (SpiderDom321)_


	31. The Gizoid Crisis

_**A/N:** Hello, everyone. So, just a small heads up, I am going on Spring Break next week, so I will be making more chapters of this story, as finishing it is my top priority. But I also have some news. So, a lot of people are having concerns about the coronavirus at my school, even though no one freaks about the flu. The coronavirus spreads like the flu. So, just wash your hands, don't touch your face, and be careful in public places. Anyways, because of this, there is a chance all of my classes will be online. Which will suck because some of my classes only work when I'm physically present in the class. Plus, I don't feel like being trapped in my house just to be homeschooled. But hey, I can only hope for the best. I won't know what they'll do until Spring Break comes for me. I can only hope for the best. For anyone curious, I am **far below** the risk of being infected, so I'm fine. I'm just gonna keep staying clean. :) And I hope you all to do the same._

 ** _Suggested Music:_**

 ** _(1) Assault on the Asphalt - Battle Highway Remix from Sonic Battle (Credit goes to Song Of A Shadow)_**

 ** _(2) Death Egg Robot Phase 1 - Sonic Forces OST_**

 ** _(3) Showdown with King Arthur - Sonic and the Black Knight OST_**

 _Without further ado, enjoy the show!_

* * *

 **The Gizoid Crisis**

"Where is Starline? He's supposed to be helping me with this project?" Dr. Eggman asked himself. Inside the Final Egg, he resumed the Elemental Gizoid experiments, but they all met the same result; they didn't work. The doctor was growing tired of his failures, as he was almost running out of Gizoids to test. But he also wondered where his most loyal lackey could be.

"Maybe he took off again like every other lackey you've had," Orbot replied. "It wouldn't surprise me."

"It seems to be a running gag in the franchise," Cubot added. "Eggman meets someone, they form an alliance, that person turns against Eggman."

"Tis' a vicious cycle, my angled friend," Orbot nodded.

"Vicious? Does that mean it has fangs?"

"Will you two shut up!?" Dr. Eggman scoffed. "I'm trying to work on a project, and nothing is working! I don't know if it's the Gizoids or the Elemental compounds I'm using, but every project is coming out as a bust!" the doctor slammed his head against the control console. He then leaned against it. "Maybe I should take a break from this. It's better to clear my head before-"

Suddenly, the door's shifted open and Dr. Starline came through.

"There you are!" the mad doctor grunted at the platypus. "Where have you been!? I've been working on this thing all night!"

"I apologize for leaving you, Doctor," Dr. Starline bowed. "But I needed to get something important. Something that could help us figure out what's wrong. Bring it in, boys."

Just then, Rough and Tumble entered the lair with the prototype Emerl in their hands. Metal Sonic followed them. Laying his eyes upon his old creation, Dr. Eggman's pupils popped out of their sockets and his heart leaped out of his chest. He was astonished to see his rejected creation live and in person, but he was also puzzled.

A while ago, he remembered seeing that the Gizoid was located at Resistance HQ. Starline suggested that they invade it, thinking it could be useful for their operation. But the doctor said no, as it would be risky to invade Resistance HQ and he wanted to make sure the other Gizoids were tested beforehand. Dr. Eggman laid his eyes on Starline and grunted like a lion. He then grabbed the platypus by the collar and pressed him against the wall. This scared Orbot and Cubot but made Rough and Tumble curious.

"Starline, you traitor!" Dr. Eggman howled. "I ordered you to _not_ invade Resistance HQ! But you go and did it anyway! You could've given away this lair's location! I swear, a Resistance soldier better not have followed you here!"

"D-Doctor, please!" Starline replied with worry. "I didn't mean to turn against you. This was not meant out of disrespect. I simply wanted to help you with this operation. The Gizoids we've tested don't work, so my hypothesis was that something about the prototype could help us determine the problem of our experiments!"

"You turned against me! Give me one good reason why I shouldn't fire you right now!"

Suddenly, the prototype drone woke up from its slumber and hopped out of Rough and Tumble's arms. Both skunks raised their eyebrows, as they watched the robot limp towards the experiment chamber. It grabbed all the elemental compounds from the shelf and walked inside the tube.

"Uh… Boss?" Rough pointed.

"I trusted you and this is how you repay me!?" Dr. Eggman continued yelling at Starline.

"But, Doctor-" Starline gulped.

"Boss?" Rough said again.

"Starline, if I had a garbage compactor with a massive monster in it, I'd throw you down and hope that monster would eat you!" Dr. Eggman snarled.

"Did you get that idea from a movie?" Dr. Starline inquired.

" _BOSS!_ " Rough shouted at the top of his lungs.

" _WHAT!?_ " Both doctors said at the same time, as they looked to the left and saw the Gizoid inside the chamber. It loaded all the compounds into its system. " _NO!_ "

Releasing Dr. Starline, Dr. Eggman approached the console and watched as the Gizoid started to glow various lights; red, blue, white, and green. The Gizoid clenched its fists and got down on its knees. It started to spark with electricity and its eyes were glowing. Dr. Eggman attempted to shut down the process before a miracle suddenly happened…

…the Gizoid started manipulating all four of its elements: fire, water, air, and earth.

But there was a bigger twist, the Gizoid wasn't malfunctioning. It calmly manipulating the elements at once as if it was natural. It created a rock from the ground, controlled water, crafted a ring of fire, and extinguished the fire with a gust of air.

The robot continued putting on a show before it stopped. The Gizoid took a bow before it stood still.

Both doctors, both skunks, and both robotic lackeys were amazed.

Dr. Eggman gently looked at Dr. Starline; a massive grin was painted across his face.

"Perhaps I was wrong about you, Starline," he said, stroking his mustache. "You _are_ very useful. And with your help, I figured out that the way the other Gizoids were crafted is the problem. We shall analyze this one's features and mass-produce clones of it! With these Elemental Gizoids, Sonic and the others don't stand a chance! And with G-merl and Synergy reprogrammed to be on my side, I'll finally fulfill my dream of world domination! Mwa-hahahahahahahahahaha!"

Dr. Starline joined in the evil laugh. "But that's not all, Doctor. Metal Sonic came back to me with great news."

Dr. Eggman stopped cackling. "Oh? And what might _that_ be?"

The platypus smirked and folded his arms. "I know the location of Synergy and G-merl."

* * *

The next morning in the Mineral Museum, Sonic was sharing a box of donuts alongside Mighty, Ray, and Silver. G-merl and Cream were talking to Synergy and Big. Team Chaotix chatted with Knuckles. Blaze interacted with Tangle and Whisper. The Hooligans were playing cards. And Amy and Tails were checking on Jewel. They stayed inside their store for three days, which can put a lot of pressure on someone, so they wanted to make sure she was okay. But just before they could ask the beetle how she was, they heard a sudden burp come from Sonic. Tails, Amy, and Jewel turned to the hedgehog, shaking their heads.

"Sheesh, Sonic," Amy moaned. "If you eat any more donuts, we're gonna have to change your name to Donut Lord."

Sonic took a bite of another donut. "I think I know a cop with that name."

Tails, Amy, and Jewel rolled their eyes. Mighty and Ray laughed at Sonic's joke.

But as everyone continued their conversations, Synergy grabbed a stool and stood on top of it. He grabbed an empty glass and a fork, tapping them together. "Excuse me, everyone. I'd like to make an announcement."

"It's not the one about Eggman and the moon, is it?" Vector asked.

"No?"

"Then proceed."

Synergy was silent for one second before he spoke. "I just wanted to say… before you guys took me out on my world adventure, I always saw Mobius as nothing but a battlefield. I always thought this place was just one big field where you had to know your environment to demolish your enemies… I was wrong. After everything I've seen, I realize there is so much more to this world than I thought. There are so many cultures, people, and so many things I've never knew existed. I also learned some lessons the Nocturnus Clan never taught me. I learned you can't always win, I learned how to read books, I even learned how to pickpocket."

Everyone glared at Team Hooligan at that last sentence.

Nack and Bean chuckled.

They continued listening to Synergy's speech.

"Anyways," Synergy resumed. "I realize I made some mistakes in the past. Lying to Big and attacking Soleanna are two of my biggest regrets. Initially, I wanted to use Big as a way of guiding me back to the Nocturnus Clan in the Mystic Ruins, but after spending time with him and all of you guys… I decided I don't want to go back to the Nocturnus Clan anymore. Why? They can't appreciate the world that's around them. All they care about is world conquest… that's something I thought I wanted, but now, I don't want it anymore…

"What's the point of world domination if you can't meet people, have friends, try new things and… find a new lease on life?" Synergy cupped his hands together. "My point is, I want to apologize to all of you for giving you a hard time at first. If I were you guys, I would've kicked me in the rear three days ago."

Everyone chuckled.

"And with that being said, I want to thank you all for giving me a second chance. A chance to be… with a family."

The Resistance exchanged nods with one another, as they all welcomed the new and reformed Synergy to their group of friends. Even Bean felt touched by the speech, as he had tears flowing down his cheek.

"Are you crying?" Nack inquired.

"Shut up, the pollen count's high today," Bean replied with a sniff, blowing his nose into Nack's hat.

"Hey!"

Everyone gathered around Synergy.

"That was beautiful, Synergy," G-merl nodded. "We're glad to see that you changed… unfortunately, there's something we need to tell you."

Synergy scratched his head. "What is it?"

Sonic, Knuckles, and Espio exchanged a glance. Silver was the one who approached the Gizoid.

"Because of your attacks on Soleanna," he spoke. "G.U.N. has you as their number one most wanted criminal. Now, we know that you've changed, but you still have to pay for your crimes. In other words… we're gonna have to take you to jail."

"But when your jail time ends," Sonic smiled. "You can bet we'll be waiting for you."

Synergy was silent before he gave a thumbs up. "Well, it's a little unfortunate I have to go away for a while. But… I understand. I made mistakes and I have to be held responsible for them. So, I understand why you need to do this. But as Sonic said, I know you guys will be waiting for me."

Big wrapped his arm around his new best friend, as everyone else exchanged a nod. They all began discussing a plan about contacting Team Dark, when suddenly…

…Tails' Miles Electric went off.

The fox reached for his communicator. "Huh, I just got a new message."

"Who's it from?" Blaze folded her arms.

"It's from Shadow."

"Huh, speak of the devil," Sonic smiled, rubbing his nose. "I know I should be mad at the Faker for turning us over to G.U.N., but he was doing his job. What did he say?"

"He probably wants to know if we changed Synergy," Espio commented. "He'll be happy once we tell him the good news."

Tails played the message.

Shadow's voice came through, _"Tails, whenever you hear this… Rouge and I have something to tell you. Resistance HQ was just invaded by Dr. Starline and Eggman's forces."_

Everyone gasped.

"W-what?" Knuckles said in shock.

" _G.U.N. and I arrived to see what was going on and your soldiers told us Super Badniks raided the place. I was about to ask them why Starline came, but the G.U.N. soldiers shot them with tranquilizers and arrested them. Since you guys are wanted for housing Synergy, that automatically means the rest of the Resistance are just as guilty as you guys."_

Knuckles growled like an angry lion, clapping his fists together.

" _I'm sorry that Shadow and I couldn't make it sooner,"_ Rouge's voice came through. _"We would've liked to help out. If you're out there, come back so we can get this situation sorted out. Then, we'll go find Eggman and Starline together. But hurry, I don't know what G.U.N.'s planning to do with your soldiers. We'll see you soon."_

The message ended.

"Those traitors!" Knuckles snarled. "How could they do this to us!?"

"Relax, Knux," Sonic said. "Shadow and Rouge tried to help."

"But they didn't do enough! Because of them, G.U.N. has our friends arrested! Who knows what kind of interrogation they'll be put through! And to make matters worse, our HQ is destroyed!"

"Wait a second," Espio halted the argument between Sonic and Knuckles. "I'm concerned for our friends in jail, but I'm also worried about something else. Remember that Emerl clone we found in the Mystic Jungle?"

"Emerl clone?" Cream raised an eyebrow, glancing at G-merl.

"Yeah?" Knuckles replied to the chameleon. His eyes suddenly widened; he realized why Starline invaded his headquarters. "Oh, no… everyone, pack up, we gotta head back to-"

" _ **HELP! SOMEBODY HELP ME!**_ "

A distressed shout came from outside. The Resistance looked at the door with confused faces. The Hooligans stood up and approached the window. They opened up the curtains and felt their eyes leave their sockets.

"Uh, Mates?" Nack gulped. "You might wanna see this!"

Sonic, Amy, and Knuckles lead the Resistance to the front door. They opened it up and looked at what Nack was pointing at. Everyone's jaws dropped and their eyes widened.

"What the!?" Amy gasped, cupping her hands over her mouth.

In the maroon-colored sky was a giant spaceship shaped like Dr. Eggman's face. Surrounding it were thousands of multi-colored objects. They were red, blue, green, and grey. All of them were flying towards the village.

Pedestrians were scared and ran to the closest shelters. Others ran across the streets.

The Resistance walked a few steps forward, beholding the creation they're seeing.

"What… is that?" Charmy gulped.

"Is that the Death Egg?" Tangle questioned. "Didn't you guys blow that up?"

"We did," Tails answered. "But that's not the Death Egg. That's something else!"

The voice of Dr. Eggman suddenly echoed through a large megaphone. _**"Mwa-hahahahahaha! Sonic the Hedgehog, it's about time we met each other again. I haven't seen you since we were trapped in the Sylvania Castle Zone, it's crazy! I want to thank you for taking care of Synergy and G-merl for me. Don't worry, once I get my hands on them, I won't put them through any harm… well, except a few sessions of reprogramming of course."**_

The Resistance clenched their fists, getting into battle positions.

" _ **Speaking of which, hand over G-merl and Synergy with ease and I will call off my army… your choice."**_

"Stay away from my friends, Eggman!" Cream shouted. "I'm not letting a mean man like you touch them!"

"… _ **What!?"**_

"I said stay away from my friends, Eggman!"

" _ **I'm looking at you from my monitor, it looks like you're talking, but I can't hear you! What are you saying!?"**_

"I said you're a mean man, Eggman! You're not touching my friends!"

" _ **I can't hear you!... hold on!"**_

It didn't take long for the Egg Mobile to arrive in front of the heroes. The Egg Mobile had two seats this time. In the main cockpit was Dr. Eggman and on the left was his right-hand man, Dr. Starline.

"I'm so sorry, I couldn't hear you," Dr. Eggman said again. "What were you saying?"

"I… ah, forget it!"

G-merl stepped in front of Cream. "Call off your army, Eggman. You want me, come and get me! I'm right here!"

"G-merl, no!" Cream hugged her best friend. "I can't let you go!"

"She's right," Synergy retorted. "And I'm not going either! Emerl and I are staying right here!"

"If you insist," Dr. Eggman chuckled. "Prepare to meet my Elemental Gizoids!" the doctor mashed a rainbow-colored button on his console.

"Elemental Gizoids?" Amy raised an eyebrow.

Before anyone could make a move, a loud slam caused Amy to jump. Standing beside her, the Chaotix and the Hooligans were an army of red-colored Gizoids with orange-colored flame decals on their bodies. Then, another set of Gizoids arrived. This time, they were navy blue with sky blue water decals. Green Gizoids with brown rock decals and finally, grey Gizoids with white wind decals.

All four armies of Elemental Gizoids surrounded the Resistance.

Everyone readied their weapons, raised their fists, and got down into battle positions.

"Are these…" Synergy asked nervously.

"No, they're not Nocturnus Clan made if that's what you're asking," G-merl replied. "They're E-121 Phis; knock-off Gizoids created by Eggman."

"Makes sense. They look cheaply made."

"What do you think of my new army, Sonic?" Dr. Eggman cackled. "These are my Elemental Gizoids. They were supposed to be used during the War, but because I was so attached to the Phantom Ruby, I decided to scrap the project. But with the help of Starline here, I was thankful enough to get them back online."

"Your new army's pretty impressive, Eggman," Sonic smirked. "But no amount of robots can take us down!"

"Confidence: a fool's substitute for intelligence. I'm done talking, it's time to push buttons! Elemental Gizoids, attack!" _**(1)**_

All at once, the Gizoids shot waves of their respective elements at the heroes. But at the last second, the Resistance leaped upward, avoiding the collision of attacks. As soon as everyone landed, the fight finally began.

Charmy grabbed Espio and Vector and chucked them right into a set of Wind Gizoids. The ninja and the detective fought fiercely before they were suddenly blown away by a gust of wind. Charmy came down and kicked the attacker in the face before he too was blown away. Espio wiped his lip, rushed forward, and stabbed the Gizoid in the chest with his kunai. He then curled into a ball and homing attacked the other Gizoids. They all kept blowing him back with balls of wind; one of them smacked him in the chest. Vector cracked his fingers and took out a piece of spicy bubble gum. Putting it in his mouth, he chewed it for a few seconds before he shot a tsunami of fire from his mouth, incinerating the robots.

Amy, Cream, Big, G-merl, and Synergy ran past the Chaotix and found themselves ambushed by Water Gizoids. Three drones kicked a fire hydrant, which caused a geyser to shoot out of the ground. The Gizoids suddenly manipulated the water, forming the shape of a sword. They hacked and slashed at Team Rose.

"Look out!" G-merl pushed Cream and Big to the side, taking the blow.

"Emerl!" Synergy shouted, as he landed on the ground and extended his Chaos Claws. "So, you can control water, huh? That's cute!"

Activating his Chaos Emulation, Synergy jumped upward and landed on top of the Gizoids, ripping them to shred. Amy swung her hammer, making a pink tornado that blew a few robots into the air. She came face-to-face with one of them and started beating it with her hammer. But by the fifth hit, her hammer was blocked by a hydrokinetic shield and she was punched in the chest by a fist made of water.

She landed, back first, against the Chili Dog stand.

There, a dark blue rabbit with a yellow shirt and green gloves watched a tube of mustard fall on Amy's face. His name was Ron.

"That'll be eleven Mobiums, please," he said, offering his hand.

Grunting, Amy wiped the mustard off of her and continued fighting.

G-merl and Cream worked together to take down multiple Gizoids before the former was grabbed by a pool of water.

"G-merl, help me!" Cream shouted, as she and Cheese were stuck together. G-merl shot a missile at the water bending drone and caught the rabbit with his hands. Synergy jumped over his friends and clapped his claws together, crushing a few drones.

Synergy then pushed his friends out of the way, taking the hit of a giant rock.

G-merl and Cream looked to the side, noticing an army of Earth Gizoids.

"Oh, you gotta be kidding me," G-merl snarled.

* * *

"Didn't your momma ever tell you not to play with fire?" Sonic quipped, as he leaped over a pyrokinetic Gizoid and kicked it off its feet. The hedgehog curled into a ball and ran over it faster than light. Sonic uncurled from his ball form and ran down the streets, boosting into different colored Gizoids. But suddenly, he was shot at by a wave of fire, which scorched part of her fur. "Hey! Easy there! I just combed my fur this morning!"

Knuckles slammed the ground and picked up a gigantic boulder. "Sonic, get clear!"

Throwing the boulder forward, he crushed an army of Gizoids.

Then, he was suddenly attacked by a set of Earth Gizoids. Knuckles blocked all of their attacks, as he slammed the ground. A shock wave blasted the robots away from him. Tails, Tangle, and Whisper landed beside him, as the fox and the wolf shot projectiles at their enemies.

Tangle noticed that a set of Wind Gizoids were coming from behind them.

"Oh, no you don't!" she cracked her fingers and grabbed her tail. Swinging it around, she latched it onto a street lamp and yanked herself forward. With her tail forming a giant fist, she mercilessly decimated every single drone in sight.

She landed beside her friends, as Sonic and Knuckles attacked a set of Fire Gizoids.

"Gotta hand it to the Doc, he sure put some thought into these things," Sonic said, flipping over one of the robots.

"This isn't the time for snarky remarks, Sonic," Knuckles grunted. "Tails, is there a way we can shut these things down?"

"I'm not sure," Tails replied, swinging his Arm Cannon around like a wrecking ball. "Let's see!"

Wrapping his wrecking ball around one of the Fire Gizoids, the fox pulled it beside him and slammed it on the ground. When that happened, its back was popped open, revealing its circuits. "From the looks of it, they're connected to some main server called _'Alpha'_ , if we destroy the main server, there is a chance we can shut them down at once!"

"Let's hope so," Sonic nodded, as he was slammed against the ground by four Earth Gizoids.

"Sonic!" Tails shouted, but he was bashed in the back by a large boulder.

A few of the Water Gizoids trapped Whisper in a field of water. The wolf held her breath and struggled to escape.

Tangle, in an attempt to rescue her, was surrounded by a ring of fire.

The Earth Gizoids formed a rocky barrier around the Blue Blur, pinning him down.

"Okay," Sonic coughed. "I'm not in the mood for a tight squeeze!"

Just as the Gizoids prepared to finish things off...

…a set of heart-shaped grenades fell on their shoulders.

"Huh?" Knuckles raised an eyebrow, punching a Fire Gizoid. "Is that?"

 _ **KABOOM!**_

The grenades exploded and all of the Gizoids were destroyed.

The heroes were set free.

Whisper fell on her knees, coughing and gasping for air. Tangle rushed forward and helped her on her feet.

" _Thank you,"_ the wolf coughed, fist-bumping the lemur.

Out of the blue, Rouge the Bat flew in and kicked a set of Water Gizoids. She ducked underneath another set of Earth Gizoids, as she tossed more grenades and fought them off with ease. Everyone else helped her fight as more armies cornered them.

"About time we found you again," Rouge snarked at Knuckles.

"We?" the echidna asked.

 _ **HONK! HONK!**_

Speeding down the road like a wild animal, a G.U.N. assault vehicle ran over all the Gizoids in its sight. The truck honked its loud horn again, as it drifted to the right and drove over more and more robots. The truck eventually came to a stop, and the door opened. The driver was none other than Shadow the Hedgehog.

"Well, look who it is," Tangle folded her arms. "The guy who betrayed us."

"I apologize for that," Shadow leaped down. "I was following orders, but I didn't realize that my orders made me do wrong. What's going on here?"

"Eggman came by with an army of Elemental Gizoids," Tails replied. "He's looking for G-merl and Synergy!"

"Probably to recruit them both for his army," Rouge stroked her chin. "It's the Emerl Incident all over again. Minus all the elemental stuff."

"Where are G-merl and Synergy as we speak?" Shadow inquired, folding his arms.

"They're helping Team Rose down the corner," Sonic pointed. "If we hurry, we can catch-"

Suddenly, a loud vroom came interrupted Sonic's sentence. _**(1s)**_

* * *

Mighty and Ray fought alongside Silver and Blaze when they heard the same noise. They stopped fighting and looked up.

"What is that?" Blaze asked.

Silver squinted his eyes and saw a gold object shoot down like a kamikaze jetplane.

"Look out!" Silver shouted, as he and the others leaped out of the way. The object landed on the ground, which created a puff of smoke. It didn't take long for the smoke to clear away, revealing the object itself.

It was a gold-colored Gizoid with bronze eyes and silver fingers, fins, and knees. Around its body were stickers made to resemble fire, water, wind, and boulders. The Gizoid stood up and stared into the souls of the heroes.

The rest of the Resistance, including Shadow and Rouge, approached.

"What the heck is that thing?" Amy asked.

Dr. Eggman and Dr. Starline hovered down.

"Mwa-hahahahahahahaha! It's about time Alpha got here!" The former laughed. "This is the Gizoid Knuckles and the Chaotix found in the Mystic Jungle. Originally, he was supposed to be a clone of Emerl, but now I modified him into the leader of my elemental army!"

"If we take him out, all the other Gizoids will be destroyed," Tails said to the others.

"Good luck doing that, Tails!" Dr. Eggman sneered. "Alpha's equipped with not only Emerl's abilities but all four elemental abilities at once! Alpha, destroy them all! Bring me G-merl and Synergy!"

Alpha nodded to his master, as he boosted forward. The Resistance charged, but they were suddenly knocked by a wave of fire and water. They were knocked down like a set of bowling pins, as they all landed on their sides. Silver and Blaze shot projectiles at Alpha, but he blocked the attacks and slammed the ground, knocking them back with two boulders. Knuckles and Shadow punched through the rocks and slammed their fists against Alpha's face. They began beating him to a pulp before Alpha clapped his hands together, blowing them back with a gust of wind.

Sonic and Tails grabbed each other's hands and formed a double spin dash. Amy smacked them like a baseball, and they rammed into Alpha's chest… or so they thought.

Alpha caught them at the last second and slammed them against the ground.

Everyone ambushed him all at once, but Alpha snapped his fingers and attacked them all with rocks and pillars.

G-merl and Synergy landed beside Cream and Big.

"This guy's tougher than I thought," G-merl clenched his fist.

* * *

Meanwhile in Windmill Village, Shade the Echidna was enjoying her morning with a fresh cup of coffee. Well, she _would_ be enjoying her morning if she wasn't grieving over her past. Four days ago, Knuckles came to her house and convinced her to come back to the team. From there, she told him why she didn't want to come back and why she stayed away from them for so long. It was at that moment where she lashed out at Knuckles. So much that she started to cry. Crying wasn't a word in Shade's dictionary, but due to the circumstances, she had no choice to let out her emotions. Thankfully, she was no longer crying, but she felt guilty for her outburst.

 _What have I done?_ She said in her mind, as she took a sip of her coffee. _What do you mean what have you done? You told Knuckles the truth. He has to learn to accept that I'm not coming back… but still, that wasn't an excuse for you to lash out like that. You did more harm than good…_

 _So, what if I did more harm? At least he's gone. He won't have to bother you anymore… No, I shouldn't say that. That's not like me to say something like that. Knuckles just wanted to help me, but like an idiot, I pushed him away…_

 _Some friend I turned out to be._

Three knocks at the door interrupted Shade's thoughts.

"It's open," she said.

Opening the door, Elder Scruffy stepped inside.

"Good morning, Shade," the goat greeted, sensing some sadness within his peer. "Are you all right?"

"Of course, I am, Elder," Shade faked a smile. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because you haven't been outside since four days ago. The cub scouts have been wondering if you're okay."

"Shoot, I'm so sorry. I'll go notify them right away."

"Wait… before you leave. I want to talk to you."

"Is something wrong?"

"Nope… but I think we need to have a discussion."

"Have a seat."

The goat sat down. "Shade… I apologize for overhearing this, but four days ago, I couldn't help but listen to a conversation you had with that red fella who visited you. You told him how you left him and his team if I recall?"

Shade nearly spat out her coffee. "How much of that did you hear?"

"I apologize once again, but I heard all of it."

The orange echidna let out a low sigh. "Even the part where I was once part of an evil clan?"

The old man nodded.

"I assume you're here to kick me out? If so, I understand. Parents wouldn't feel comfortable if their children's cub scout troop was lead by an evil general. I'll start packing my things," Shade got up from her chair.

"No, no, that's not what I came here for," Elder Scruffy smiled.

The echidna sat back down.

"Shade," the goat sighed. "You can't let your past actions burden you. Not only will it solve anything, but it's also not good for you mentally. The fact that you're running from your past is making you feel worse. It's causing you to push the ones who once held close away from you. You can't live life like that. Hiding away from your past won't help you get over it… that's why I'm going to make a suggestion."

Shade's purple eyes looked up at the goat.

Elder Scruffy pressed his hands together, continuing. "I think you should have a genuine talk with that red fella and his other friends. Voicing your feelings instead of keeping them concealed is not only healthy for you mentally, but it will give you a chance to tell your friends the truth. Now, I can't say what their reactions will be to your story, but I can guarantee, they'll be happy to know the truth… whether you choose to be friends with them again is entirely up to you, but I think if you told them everything… they'll appreciate it."

The orange echidna was silent. She looked to her left and took a deep breath. Then, a smile was painted on her face. It was at that moment where she got up and walked towards her closet, pulling out her old uniform. Taking a good look at it, she turned to the side and opened one of her drawers. Two bottles of purple and pink spray-paint stared back at her.

She took them out and smiled at her uniform. _**(2)**_

* * *

"Everybody, get back!" Mighty bellowed, as he tapped his elbow and pulled back his fist. After watching Alpha toss Ray and Tangle to the side, the armadillo bawled at the top of his lungs and punched Alpha in the face. The punch was so strong, a massive shockwave was formed.

The golden Gizoid flew a hundred feet backward before he suddenly used his wind powers to fly back. From there, Vector grabbed him and slammed him on the ground, where Big body-slammed on top of him. Sonic, Knuckles, Shadow, and Blaze charged forward and homed in on Alpha; homing attacking him all at once. Alpha protected himself with a watery shield but was too slow to deflect Whisper's rocket blast.

Alpha skidded across the ground, where he came face-to-face with Espio.

The ninja turned invisible and ambushed the Gizoid from all sides.

Unfortunately, Alpha spawned a ray of wind around him, which exposed Espio's location. The overpowered mech grabbed Espio by the neck and held him up in the air. Before he could pummel him, he was tackled by Rouge, G-merl, and Synergy. The two Gizoids spin dashed into Alpha before firing a heavy uppercut.

Rouge slapped a heart-shaped grenade on Alpha's chest. It exploded and covered Alpha's vision with smoke. This gave Tails, Charmy, Ray, Amy, and Tangle a chance to thrash upon him. But sadly, their blows didn't have any effect.

Silver arrived and blocked Alpha's attacks with psychic waves before he clapped his hands together. Two large boulders smacked themselves into Alpha's sides. The white hedgehog then roundhouse kicked the Gizoid.

Even after all that abuse, Alpha stood as if nothing touched him.

The Resistance was getting tired of both Alpha, and Dr. Eggman and Dr. Starline's constant laughing.

"Now might be a good time to end this, don't you think, my lord?" the latter suggested. "We don't want Alpha to damage Synergy, don't we?"

"Hmm… we don't," the former replied. "Why don't you put that Topaz to good use?"

"Gladly,"

Clenching his fist, the platypus admired his gemstone's glow.

From there, a portal formed on the ground and Synergy fell inside.

"Synergy!" Cream, G-merl, and Big shouted in worry. They attempted to grab his hand, but it was too late. Synergy was consumed by the ground. G-merl glared at both doctors.

"Where did you take him!?" the Gizoid shouted.

"Relax, G-merl," Dr. Eggman chuckled. "You'll be joining him soon!"

At that moment, G-merl grabbed Big's hands and they flew upward. Cream and Cheese followed alongside them. They charged right for Dr. Eggman and Dr. Starline.

"That's right, my former creation," Dr. Eggman scoffed to himself. "Come to papa."

Dr. Starline created another portal, but G-merl flew over it and dropped Big onto the Egg Mobile. Both doctors were scared of the giant shadow that surrounded them from above. Screaming at the top of their lungs, they jumped out of the vehicle before Big could slam on top of it.

As they free-fell to the ground, Dr. Starline used the War Topaz to create a portal on the ground. Both he and his master fell inside. G-merl, Cream, and Big landed on the ground, approaching the warp hole.

"Hang on, Synergy! We're coming!" Big shouted.

But the portal was already closed.

"Synergy!" Big exclaimed.

"Don't worry, Mr. Big," Cream patted her large friend on the back. "We'll rescue Mr. Synergy. I know it!"

" _Argh!_ " Mighty shouted, as he tumbled across the ground and landed against a fire hydrant.

The trio turned around, shocked to see that Alpha was annihilating their friends with ease. He grabbed Amy's hammer and smacked her, Whisper, Rouge, and Tangle across their faces. He slammed the ground and trapped Ray, Tails, Silver, and Blaze in a pile of rocks. He blew the Chaotix away with gusts of wind, and he trapped Sonic, Knuckles, and Shadow in a large pool of water. The three struggled to escape.

Watching the entire fight, the Hooligans were hiding behind a pile of rubble.

"Okay, boys," Nack gulped. "Guess we better get out of here."

"Yep," Bean nodded in agreement. "Sneaky time."

As the mercenaries snuck off, they found themselves in the same situation as Ray, Tails, Silver, and Blaze; wrapped in a rope of boulders. Alpha pulled the mercenaries towards them and glared into their souls. Bark struggled to escape, but Nack and Bean were screaming at the highest pitch.

"Let them go, you meanie!" Cream rushed towards the attacker.

"Cream, no!" G-merl chased after her. Big followed behind.

Alpha was lured towards the rabbit's remark, as he trapped the Hooligans and took off faster than lightning. His hands ignited with fire, as he assailed to the rabbit and her friends. Cream stopped and bellowed a scream. G-merl and Big stood in front of her, ready to take the hit.

Alpha came closer and closer, firing a punch when all of a sudden…

…a familiar face blocked the blow. _**(2s)**_

Alpha's eyes widened when he saw the figure standing in front, astonished that they could block such a punch. Well, the figure was technically a _she_. A female with mostly purple armor with black and pink stripes up her arms and legs. She had pink knee and elbow pads with black straps as well as purple shoes with black details on them. Around her waist was a black Warp Belt and on her head were a pair of black goggles with purple lenses.

It was Shade the Echidna. _**(3)**_

"Miss Shade!" Cream shouted excitingly.

"Leave… my friends… _alone!_ " the orange echidna kicked the Gizoid aside, unleashing her Leech Blades.

Alpha cracked his knuckles and ran towards the echidna. Shade stood alongside the others, as they exchanged a nod and prepared for round two.

Shade slid on her knees and chucked a grenade at Alpha, blinding him with a puff of smoke. As he was blinded, Cream and G-merl landed a good uppercut across the golden Gizoid's chin, as they grabbed him and kicked him into a building. Laying on the ground, Big wrapped his fishing pole around Alpha's legs and slammed him around like a dog's chew toy. Big eventually released the robot, which gave Shade a chance to release her anger. From right to left, she scratched Alpha with her blades and landed a good slash against his eye. She tossed one of her blades like a boomerang, the same with the other one. When she caught them both, she flipped over and landed a kick against Alpha's face.

While the Gizoid was distracted, Silver focused enough of his psychic power and released himself and the others from Alpha's clutches. The Hooligans, Ray, Tails, and Blaze were set free. Amy, Rouge, Whisper, and Tangle quickly recovered. Sonic, Knuckles, and Shadow could finally breathe, and Mighty helped the Chaotix on his feet.

They approached Knuckles and nudged him.

"I take it that's your girlfriend?" Vector teased.

"No!" Knuckles replied with annoyance. "She's not my girlfriend!"

"She totally is," Sonic whispered.

"Whoo-hoo!" Tangle cheered, nudging Amy. "I told you she'd come back! They always do!"

"What are we standing around for?" Rouge smirked. "Let's help her out, shall we?"

Knuckles nodded. "Resistance, charge!"

Every member of the Resistance, even the Hooligans, raced forward.

G-merl, Cream, Big, and Shade punched Alpha in the chest.

Then, every hero in the area exacted their revenge.

Team Chaotix delivered a rocking Chaotix Recital, where they blasted energetic soundwaves at Alpha.

Silver and Blaze combined their powers and bashed themselves into Alpha's chest.

Tangle, Whisper, Shadow, and Rouge attacked from both sides.

Amy formed a pink tornado.

Tails fired yellow projectiles.

Nack shot his popgun. Bean threw his bombs. And Bark landed more punches.

Finally, Sonic and Knuckles finished things off. Joining Shade, the blue hedgehog gave the echidnas a thumbs up before they ran up to their attacker. Throwing a grenade, Shade and Knuckles threw an uppercut, sending the Gizoid into the air. They then placed their hands together and gave Sonic a boost. Launching him upward, the Blue Blur watched as the black/yellow Gizoid grabbed his hand. Rolling into a spin dash, Sonic and G-merl waited a few seconds before…

 _ **KRAKOOM!**_

…they destroyed Alpha. _**(3s)**_

When the smoke from the crater cleared, all that was left were broken bits.

Not only that, but all of the other Elemental Gizoids started shutting down. Their eyes went black, as they fell to the ground.

Sonic and G-merl landed in front of Knuckles and Shade, giving them both a solid high five. The rest of the Resistance ran towards them, celebrating the fact that the fight was finally over.

"Miss Shade, you're back!" Cream hugged the female echidna, making her chuckle.

"I knew you'd come back! I had no doubt about it!" Amy joined in the group hug. Her remark made Tangle roll her eyes.

"Ha-ha, nice to see you guys too," Shade chuckled. "Um, Amy. Could you let me go, please? I can't breathe."

"Welcome to my world," Sonic sniggered, as he helped Shade escape from Amy. He offered her his hand. "In all seriousness, it's nice to have you back, Shade. We missed you."

Shade was shocked to hear that. She smiled and shook his hand. "I missed you too, Sonic. I'm sorry I didn't come back sooner. I thought you all hated me."

"Hated you?" Tails inquired. "Why would you think that?"

"Because of what I did. I allowed the Eggman Empire to take over Mobius while we were in the Twilight Cage. If I had just gone in there by myself, you guys would've been here to protect your world… I'm sorry that I ran away for so long. I kept thinking you all didn't want to see me again."

Everyone in the Resistance exchanged the same sorrowful glance. Together, they shared a smile.

"Shade, you did the right thing in asking us for help," Sonic patted her shoulder and winked. "What kind of guy would I be if I didn't help out my friends in need. Besides, you realized your mistake when you helped us defeat Ix. So, that's all that matters. You don't have to worry about Ix anymore."

"And we took care of the whole Eggman thing together," Amy took the echidna's hands. "As a team! You were nice enough to fight alongside us! That's all that matters to us!"

The orange echidna smiled at both hedgehogs' comments. She turned to Knuckles and smiled at him too. The red guardian mirrored her gesture before he was interrupted by Vector clearing his throat. Knuckles turned to Vector, Espio, Charmy, Mighty, and Ray.

"Aren't you going to introduce us?" Vector winked.

"Oh, right!" Knuckles gasped. "Shade, these are some of my other friends. Vector, Espio, Mighty, Ray, and Charmy."

"Please to meet you," Espio nodded.

"You're pretty," Charmy clapped his hands together.

"It's an honor, Miss Shade," Mighty shook her hand.

"H-hi," Ray waved.

"Hello," Shade greeted.

Nack suddenly pushed both the squirrel and armadillo aside, taking Shade's hand and kissing it. "And I'm Nack the Weasel. I also go by Fang the Sniper. I answer to either one, m'lady. How do you do on this fine evening?"

"Don't mind him," Bean patted the weasel's back. "Nack's just lonely. Why do you think he spends a lot of time on internet dating websites? I'm Bean, by the way. This here's my guy, Bark. We're not actually friends with these jokers. We're just here so we won't go to jail."

"What?" Shade raised an eyebrow.

"It's a long story," Sonic whispered.

"I'm sorry to break up the reunion, guys," G-merl interrupted. "But we have a problem. Eggman and Starline took Synergy."

"I almost forgot about Synergy," Shade gasped. "We have to stop him immediately."

"Whoa, hold on, Shade," Amy said. "We don't have to worry about him anymore. We changed him."

"Change? What do you mean?"

"We took Mr. Synergy around the world in three days, where he met new people and learned new things," Cream smiled. "He's really nice now and he doesn't want to harm anyone."

"He's our new best friend," Big added.

"So, you reverted his destructive programming?" Shade asked.

Everyone was bamboozled.

"Say what now?" Bean rubbed his head.

"You were able to remove Synergy's destructive programming, weren't you?" Shade asked again. "All Gizoids were created with a destructive mode. It's only activated when they're exposed to true power. Since you managed to change Synergy, that means you removed his ability to become destructive, right? Because if he's exposed to a certain memory or a certain amount of power, he'll go back to the way he once was."

Everyone had the same reaction; flabbergasted.

"Um… I don't think that came up," Sonic chuckled, rubbing his head.

"Synergy's a nice person, now, Ms. Shade," Big commented. "But what does destructive programming mean? Does that mean he's going to be mean again?"

"If Eggman does something that sets him off," Shade nodded. "Then yes,"

"Then we better hurry and follow Eggman," Amy suggested. "Knuckles, lead the way!"

"Come on, everyone, let's do it to it!"

The Resistance took off at the speed of sound, chasing after Dr. Eggman's battleship.

Except for the Hooligans, who were walking back towards the Marvelous Queen.

Mighty and Ray noticed them.

"W-w-w-where-?" Ray asked.

"Spit it out, kid," Nack snarled.

"W-where a-a-are y-you guys g-g-going?"

"Far away from here, that's what. We're money-makers, not superheroes. Deal with this Gizoid thing on your own."

"But if you leave now," Mighty grinned evilly. "Who's to say G.U.N. won't catch you?"

"He's got a point, Boss Man," Bean nudged his boss.

"And…" the armadillo sneered at the group. "Who's to say _I_ won't catch you?"

The weasel and duck gulped. Even Bark was intimidated.

They all jumped on the Marvelous Queen.

"C'mon, boys!" Nack shouted, shooting off his popgun. "Let's go find us a damsel in distress. Well, in this case, it's a mister in distress."

With the Marvelous Queen took off, Ray turned to his best friend.

"W-when d-d-did you b-become s-s-so evil?" Ray chuckled.

"I learned from a special someone," Mighty patted Ray's head. The squirrel grabbed the armadillo's wrist with his tail, as the two ascended into the air. "Let's catch up with the others! We don't want to miss the final showdown!"

The heroes were in pursuit of Dr. Eggman's ship.

 _ **END OF CHAPTER 31**_

* * *

 _After many chapters and moments of depression, Shade the Echidna is finally back in the game. But unfortunately, she came with dire news. Dr. Eggman has taken Synergy and plans to reprogram him to his liking. If the mad doctor does something wrong, the Gizoid can revert back to his old self and we certainly don't want that to happen, do we? Will the Resistance hurry in time to rescue their new ally, or will Eggman and Starline's plans come out on top. Find out next time, as we reach closer to the ending in..._

 _"Chapter 32: The Truth Hurts, Doesn't It?"_

* * *

 ** _POST-A/N:_**

 _I have been meaning to type a Guest reply for a while now, but I wanted to give a huge shoutout to TheLostEternity, who has taken the time to look at all 30 chapters of Awakened as we speak and they also took a look at my other story, Sonic Heroes: The Atom Bomb. TLE, thank you so much for your review. I am glad you love Awakened. Yes, the name of Synergy came from Sonic Synergy (to the prototype of Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric). I am also glad you're loving G-merl's characterization. G-merl has always been an underrated character in my eye, so I wanted to give characters like him, Big, Mighty, Ray, and Cream the spotlight they deserved. Who doesn't love Dr. Starline? I sure do! He's awesome!_

 _I am also glad you loved the moment where Synergy made Whisper the picture frame. That was one of my favorite scenes to write._

 _There are some Sonic movie jokes in here. Think you could find them? Don't worry, I didn't go into spoiler territory when making these jokes. Although, I guess we shouldn't have to worry about spoilers since HD clips of the movie are spreading on YouTube._

 _Little trivia: Alpha is named after an old Sonic fan character I made during the very first version of "Sonic Heroes: The Atom Bomb", in that story, he was the sidekick to Synergy and was the captain of the Gizoid Police Department, an evil organization that ruled over Mobius during Synergy's takeover. Figured I'd bring him back and give him a fresh new look._

 _As always, thank you all so much for reading! Don't forget to R &R! I'm The Sensational SpiderDom321 and I'll see you next time!_

 _~SD321 (SpiderDom321)_


	32. The Truth Hurts, Doesn't It?

_**A/N:** So, my current status at the moment is that I am on Spring Break. So, I should be able to write out more chapters of this story. Currently, Chapters 33 and 34 are complete and I am slowly working on the remainder of the story. So far, I'm having a blast writing out the climax of the story. I won't spoil what it is, but let me just say, buckle up because you're in for a surprise. I also wanted to wish everyone a safe venture through our current situation. Even though it spreads like a normal flu, wash our hands, don't touch your face with dirty hands, and stay hydrated. Also, don't be a jerk and steal toilet paper from people. What is that about? _

_Back on topic, Awakened has now reached over **11,000 views!** Just last week, it was 10,000 views, now it's 1,000 views more. I never thought it'd be this story that would get me this far, but I want to thank every single person for reading this story. From every reviewer to every follower, thank you all so much. And special thanks to my best friend, Infinite's Ruby for helping out so much. Without her, Awakened wouldn't be where it is today. Go check out her stories if you haven't already._

 ** _Suggested Music:_**

 ** _(1) Death Egg Robot - Sonic Generations OST_**

 ** _(2) Lava Mountain Act 3 - Sonic Lost World OST_**

 ** _(3) Silent Sparrow - Big Hero 6 OST_**

 ** _(4) Full Speed Ahead - Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity OST_**

 _Without further ado, enjoy the show!_

* * *

 **The Truth Hurts, Doesn't It?**

The sun fell against the Mystic Ruins, and the Resistance couldn't stop running. Chasing Dr. Eggman and Dr. Starline, the heroes were more than determined to rescue Synergy and thwart the villains' plans for good.

Everyone was split into groups: Amy, Big, Whisper, and Tangle rode with Tails in the Tornado, Charmy carried Espio and Vector via magic rings called the Sling Rings, Ray carried Mighty across the sky, Silver and Blaze flew beside the Tornado, Shadow drove the G.U.N. assault truck with Knuckles, Shade, and Rouge as his passengers, the Hooligans rode around in the Marvelous Queen, and lastly, Sonic ran alongside G-merl and Cream.

"How're you doing up there, Tails?" Sonic asked through his communicator.

" _Not so good,"_ Tails replied. _"None of the Tornado's defenses can penetrate the ship."_

"Keep moving," Shadow replied through his radio. "We'll catch up eventually."

The truck ran over a bump in the road. The passengers shook.

"Sheesh, Shadow," Knuckles grunted. "Where'd you learn to drive?"

"I don't like driving trucks," the ebony hedgehog answered coldly. "I prefer motorcycles."

"That's no excuse to drive like a moron!"

"Well, I'm sorry. Do _you_ want to take the wheel?"

"I'd be glad to," Knuckles replied, as he and Shadow switched places. The echidna sat down and turned the wheel.

"If Eggman's smart," Shade said. "He'd be careful with Synergy's programming. One wrong move and the entire world could be at risk."

"Dear," Rouge smiled. "I know you've been gone for a while now, but you should know the words Eggman and smart don't mix in the same sentence."

"We'll save Synergy before Eggman touches him, Shade," Knuckles replied. "I can promise you that."

"Don't make promises you can't keep, Knuckie," Rouge smirked.

"Shut up, Rouge."

G-merl and Cream flew next to Sonic. In the process, they had a conversation.

"G-merl?" the rabbit asked softly.

"What's up, Kiddo?" the Gizoid answered.

"After we save Mr. Synergy and we turn him in to the police, what's going to happen to him when he's free? Where will he go? Who will take care of him?"

G-merl thought about his response. Where _would_ Synergy go once he's free from jail? He squinted his eyes, formulating his answer. "Well, part of me says he'll live happily with Big, but I think he'll be like Sonic. In other words, he'll go where his heart takes him. We only showed him _part_ of the world, he didn't see everything. So, I think once he gets out, he'll go where his soul guides him. That's my opinion at least."

Cream smiled and so did Cheese. "That would be really nice. Maybe he can come to visit Mother and us sometimes," Cheese nodded in agreement.

G-merl chuckled. "Yeah… that would be nice."

Tails spoke to everyone through his communicator. _"Heads up, guys. Eggman's stopping."_

Bypassing the bushes, Sonic, G-merl, and Cream stopped near the edge of a cliff. The G.U.N. truck drove behind them.

Rouge repeatedly slapped Knuckles' arm. "Hit the brakes, hit the brakes, _hit the brakes!_ "

Slamming his foot on the brake, Knuckles made the vehicle stop. He nearly hit the trio in front.

"Easy there, Knux," G-merl snarked. "Where'd you learn to drive!?"

Shadow, Shade, and Rouge glared at the echidna, who nervously smiled.

The Chaotix, Hooligans, Mighty, and Ray landed on the same cliff.

"There's some kind of building up ahead," Espio pointed.

Mighty squinted, noticing the building. "Over there!"

"Wait a minute," Knuckles said. "I recognize that place."

"It's the Final Egg!" Sonic whined. "Egghead built this place during the Chaos Incident! Man, Tails, Knuckles, and I were just here looking for Synergy before we met Rough and Tumble! How did we not think Eggman would be hiding here this whole time!?"

" _Now's not the time for complaining, Sonic,"_ Tails said. _"I saw Eggman and Starline enter the building. Synergy must be inside. Let's get in before… wait, what is that?"_

As the Tornado circled the Final Egg, Tails noticed something strange occurring at the entrance; the ground was shaking. _**(1)**_

Beating like a drum, multiple piles of dirt rose from the ground, revealing a machine. It was Rough and Tumble, who operated the exact same mechanism that destroyed Resistance HQ. Flying next to them was Metal Sonic.

"Here we go again," Tumble smirked.

"The Resistance wants to rumble," Rough continued.

Both skunk brothers finished their rhyme. " _But they don't stand a chance against_ _ **Rough and Tumble!**_ "

Everyone cringed.

"Will they ever stop that?" Sonic grumbled, facepalming.

" _I have a plan,"_ Tails said. _"You guys take care of Metal, Rough, and Tumble. Silver, Blaze, Big, Whisper, Tangle, Amy, and I will infiltrate the base and rescue Synergy. Got that?"_

"No worries, Tails," Sonic grinned. "They're filled with persistence, but they're no match for the Resistance!"

Everyone cringed at Sonic.

"Oh, come on. That was pretty good."

Knuckles clapped his fists in anger. "They're gonna regret destroying Resistance HQ! Let's do this, everyone! _Charge!_ "

Everyone ran down the mountain.

Nack loaded his popgun. "Let's go be heroes, boys… I'm gonna throw up after saying that."

With the Resistance hastening into the woods, they commenced their battle with Rough and Tumble. They drove their mech to the right and boosted towards the team; Metal Sonic and his furry counterpart homing attacked into one another. Knuckles and Shade climbed on top of the mech from the left whereas Espio, Charmy, Mighty, Ray, and Vector jumped onto the right.

Sonic bounced off of Metal's head and spin dashed into both Rough and Tumble's cockpits.

"Hey!" Rough growled. "Quit bashing the Skunk Buster!"

"Skunk Buster?" Tumble raised an eyebrow. "That's not the name we agreed on! It's called the Tumbler!"

"That sounds too basic! Skunk Buster!"

"Tumbler!"

"Skunk Buster!"

"Tumbler!"

"Skunk Buster!"

"Tumbler!"

"I got an idea," Charmy flew up to both cockpits. "Why not the Skunk Tumbler?"

Both skunks shared a curious glance.

"Say, that's not a bad idea," Rough smiled.

"Thanks, kid," Tumble gave the bee a thumbs up before he started shooting at him with large projectiles. Charmy squealed with fear, as he flew out of the way. Shadow and Rouge helped Knuckles and Shade get closer to the cockpits, but it was hard for them to maneuver because the mech kept moving and shaking.

Sonic and Metal continued their battle.

"What's the matter, Metal? No more Neo?" Sonic smirked. "Gotta say, even when you had the power of several Chaos Emeralds, you _still_ couldn't beat me!"

"Technically, I was not defeated by you," Metal snarled, slashing at the hedgehog. "I was defeated by that inferior robot, G-merl!"

"Did somebody say my name?" G-merl said, as he and Cream came out of nowhere and attacked Metal with a double spin dash. "Good evening, Metal. You look angry as usual."

Cream kicked Metal's face, as G-merl shot him in the chest at point-blank distance.

Metal tumbled across the floor.

"Well, well, well, look who decided to show up," the metallic hedgehog taunted. "You made a mistake coming here, G-merl. You'll meet the same fate as Synergy once I'm through with you!"

"Stay away from my brother, you meanie!" Cream yelled.

"You're still hanging around with a spoiled brat like her, G-merl?" Metal asked with a chuckle. "I'm surprised someone as strong as you keeps hanging out with a weakling like Cream."

"I'm not afraid of you, Metal Sonic!" Cream said again.

"You should be, little girl."

"And yet here we are."

Metal's eyes widened once he heard that. So did Sonic and G-merl's eyes. It was at that moment where Cream and Cheese charged headfirst into battle. Metal swatted at them with his claws, but the rabbit commanded the Chao; Cheese landed five to six good shots around Metal's body. Cream kicked the robot three times before she curled into a ball and spun into his chest. Cheese screamed at the top of his tiny lungs, as he rapidly punched and kicked Metal's face, arms, legs, and shoulders. Cream untucked from her ball form and used both of her feet to propel Metal against a large tree.

Both the rabbit and the Chao landed on the ground, breathing angrily.

Sonic and G-merl were starstruck.

"Did you teach her that?" the hedgehog asked the Gizoid.

As the battle resumed, the Tornado landed in the middle of the woods. Tails, Silver, Blaze, Tangle, Amy, Whisper, and Big jumped off and snuck away from the Skunk Tumbler. Whisper managed to land a few hits on the robot's back before she joined her friends inside the base.

The Hooligans circled around the robot on Nack's bike; the weasel kept shooting tiny corks at the Skunk Tumbler. Bark cracked his knuckles and landed multiple blows against the robot, making dents that barely went through the mech's armor. Bark grunted and punched the mech one more time, shoving it to the right. Rough and Tumble gasped in fear, as they looked down at the three mercenaries on the bike. Bean noticed the skunks and stuck his tongue out.

"Why you little!" Rough and Tumble grumbled, as they turned the Skunk Tumbler around and chased the Marvelous Queen, shooting at it with missiles.

"Yeah, that's right, suckers!" Bean taunted, shaking his rear. "Come and get us!"

Nack gulped. "Bean, shut up! You're just gonna make them mad!"

Bark grabbed Bean and sat him down, looking back at the fast-moving mech.

Knuckles, Shade, Shadow, Rouge, Mighty, Ray, and the Chaotix were riding on top of it. Sonic, G-merl, Cream, and Metal chased it from behind. _**(1s)**_

* * *

Inside the Final Egg, Dr. Eggman, Dr. Starline, Orbot, and Cubot watched as Synergy struggled to escape from his chamber. He sat inside the experimental container attached to a soft bed. He was held down by metallic straps and wires. Attempting to unleash his Chaos claws, none of his attempts helped him escape. All he could do was snap at the villains.

"Let me go!" he demanded. "I need to get back to my family!"

"Your family?" Dr. Eggman chuckled. "You mean Sonic and the others? _Bah!_ They're not your family!"

"Yes, they are!" Synergy retorted. "But you wouldn't not that since you have _no_ family!"

"Mama Robotnik would take offense to that."

"Let me out of here at once, Eggman! Or I'll break out of here and deal with you _myself!_ "

Dr. Starline nudged his boss. "Excuse me, Doctor. May I voice a concern?"

"Make it quick, Starline," Dr. Eggman replied, typing on his computer.

"I've been reading some of Dr. Robotnik's old files on Project: Emerl. He talked about how Emerl had destructive programming in his system. Apparently, when the government discovered Project: Shadow, Gerald gave Emerl to the government as a way of distracting them from Project: Shadow. He warned them not to experiment with Emerl, but they didn't listen. Emerl was able to absorb all of their weapons, which caused a massive explosion. It was the sole reason why the government raided Space Colony Ark in the first place."

"Your point?"

"How will we activate Synergy to his default state without meeting the same fate as the government?"

"Don't worry, Starline… I have a solution."

Pressing a button on the console, Dr. Eggman watched a monitor appear right behind Synergy. He then used a mechanism to make the bed turn around, so Synergy could watch the screen. At first, nothing but static was onscreen, but it turned to a black screen with this as the title: _**"The Nocturnus Clan Strikes" A True Story Collection by Dr. Eggman.**_

Synergy stopped struggling because he was fascinated by the title.

The screen loaded and showed us a first-person perspective labeled, _"The Eggman Cam"_ , the doctor stood alongside Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Cream, Big, Rouge, and Shadow. Together, they were face to face with Shade, who was wearing her Nocturnus Clan uniform, in Blue Ridge Zone. She stood next to two Marauders.

" _Abandon your quest and back away now,"_ Shade demanded. _"This is the last warning before we exterminate you!"_

"S-Shade?" Synergy inquired. "Shade knows Sonic?... how can that be?"

" _Don't worry, the Chaos Emeralds are safe,"_ Shade spoke again, taking off her helmet. _"We're returning them to our true masters."_

" _W-what!?"_ Knuckles shouted, flabbergasted.

" _She's an echidna!"_ Tails exclaimed.

" _But I thought Knuckles was the last of his kind!"_ Amy added.

" _This is… not possible,"_ Knuckles said. _"Only my bloodline survived the wrath of Perfect Chaos. You can't be the Nocturnus Clan, this must be a trick!"_

" _Your clan paid for its arrogance,"_ Shade clenched her fist. _"But the Nocturnus Clan was wrongly punished for our success. And now, we will return to this world!"_

" _Let's see you try!"_ Sonic cracked his fingers.

Synergy then watched his new friends fight his old friends.

"Doctor," Dr. Starline gulped. "What is this?"

"I may have recorded some footage from the time I helped Sonic destroy the Nocturnus Clan," Dr. Eggman replied with a smile. "I was going through some files when I found these. I saved them thinking they could be of good use one day."

"This isn't… possible," Synergy said, worried. "Big… Sonic… Knuckles… fighting Shade? This has to be a trick!"

Dr. Eggman spoke to Synergy through a megaphone. "This isn't a trick, my green, and blue friend. This is real. 4,000 years ago, the Nocturnus Clan were banished to an alternate dimension called the Twilight Cage. Many years later, they found a way to come back to Mobius in hopes of restoring their people. But mean ol' Sonic the Hedgehog and his dingus friends decided otherwise."

"This… this can't be true."

Synergy's eyes widened, as he watched Knuckles punch Shade in the jaw.

" _There's no way this is true!_ " _**(2)**_

* * *

Outside the base, The Hooligans were in a heap of panic. They've been running from the Skunk Tumbler for what felt like forever. They were getting tired of this interminable battle. Nack, with his foot slammed on the gas pedal, drove as fast as he could. Bean kept chucking bombs at the mech, and Bark kept tossing boulders and other objects he found from the ground. Shooting corks at the mech, Nack wiped a bowl of sweat from his forehead. He then looked down at the Marvelous Queen's back compartment; he snapped his fingers, thinking of an idea.

"Bark, you drive!" he ordered.

Without question, the polar bear sat in the driver's seat and kept the bike's momentum going.

Nack opened up the storage box and found two pieces of a sniper rifle sitting in there.

"All righty then," Nack smiled, as he assembled his weapon and aimed it at Rough's cockpit. "Say g'night, ya filthy raccoons!"

"Hey! We're skunks!" Rough shoot his fist.

 _ **KABLAM!**_

Nack shot one laser bullet and made a crack in Rough's cockpit. Tumble raised both eyebrows.

"Wait a minute," the white skunk rubbed his head. "Rough, pull over!"

"What!?" his brother shouted. "Why!?"

"Just pull over!"

The blue skunk reluctantly obeyed and stopped the vehicle. The Hooligans stopped their bike and looked up at the skunks, who opened their cockpits and looked down at the mercenaries.

"Yo, are you Fang the Sniper?" Tumble inquired. "And are you two Bean the Dynamite and Bark the Polar Bear?"

The trio shared the same confused glance before nodding.

Tumble suddenly gasped with excitement. "I knew it, I knew it, I knew it! Rough, these the guys I keep telling you about! The Hooligans! They're the best bounty hunters in the business!"

"R-really!?" Rough gasped, looking down at the three hunters. "Oh, my god, it _is_ them! Hi, I'm Rough!"

"And I'm Tumble!"

"We're your biggest fans!" both skunks cheered at the same time.

Nack was confused. "What the what?"

"I own that one fighting game you guys are in!" Tumble said with an excited tone. "You guys are my favorite characters!"

"We even have your faces sculpted on these plates!" Rough held up three plates with each of the Hooligans' faces on them.

Bean was awestruck… for the wrong reasons. "Okay, this is a little creepy."

Shade climbed on top of the Skunk Tumbler, ready to strike. But she was noticed by Tumble, who nudged his brother.

"Hey, bro! Look out!"

Rough turned around, smirked, and raised his tail. "Stink Bomber!"

A puff of green smoke escaped from the skunk's tail. Before it could hit the echidna, the red guardian pushed her out of the way and took the blow. He coughed, hacked, and rubbed his red puffy eyes. Rough kicked him over the side, as Shade watched him fall to the ground.

"Knuckles!" she shouted.

Shadow and Rouge helped the guardian up.

"Are you all right?" the former asked.

"I'm fine," Knuckles coughed, holding his neck. "Not the first time he got me."

The Chaotix, Mighty, and Ray jumped onto the top and were ambushed by missiles fired by Tumble. The three detectives dispersed to the right whereas Mighty tucked into his shell, shielding himself from heavy fire. Ray hid beside his best friend, as he extended his wings and followed the detectives. Espio chucked a kunai forward and it penetrated through Tumble's door. He grabbed onto the rope at the end of the weapon and pulled himself up. Vector followed behind, clapped his fists together, and slammed the glass door wide open. He grabbed Tumble by the tuff of his chest fur.

"That's enough from you, buddy!" Vector grunted.

"Get off of me, you brute!" Tumble punched the crocodile in the face but was later met with an unexpected surprise: Charmy stung him right in his rear. " _ **YEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAOWWWWWWWWWWWW!**_ "

The skunk yanked the bee off of him. "You little ru-"

Mighty and Espio kicked the skunk into his seat.

"Tumble! I'm coming, brother!" Rough opened his door and ran upward. But he was suddenly stopped by Shade, who grasped her Leech Blades. "Outta the way, girly! I ain't scared of you!"

"That's fine," Shade said calmly, as she blocked some of Rough's attacks. "I'm not scared of you either."

The orange echidna kicked the skunk off the mech, and he fell on his back. From there, he was body-slammed by Knuckles and Rouge.

Then, Sonic came running out with G-merl and Cream. The three of them were still fighting Metal Sonic.

As the three stood together, they looked up and gave the Chaotix a thumbs up. Metal Sonic wasn't sure what they were doing until he heard the white skunk grunt. Looking up in a split second, he realized he fell right into a trap. In other words, Tumble fell right on top of him.

The Chaotix jumped down with Mighty and Ray.

Shade leaped down, grabbed Rough's tail, and chucked him into the dogpile. Metal Sonic struggled to get back up. _**(2s)**_

The Hooligans stood confused.

"Nice shot, Nack," Sonic said with a thumbs up and a wink. "And thanks for the distraction."

"Um… you're welcome?" Nack shrugged his shoulders.

"Tails, how are you doing inside the base?" Rouge said through her communicator.

* * *

Meanwhile, inside the Final Egg, Tails' team was being bombarded with Super Badniks and lasers coming out of the walls.

Tangle and Whisper fought through hordes of Badniks.

Big helped Amy seal the door, preventing robots from entering.

Silver and Blaze assisted the lemur and the wolf.

And Tails flew around, firing yellow projectiles from his Arm Cannon. "We're doing all right, Rouge. We're almost there!"

Suddenly, the team heard a scream.

"That sounded like Synergy!" Big shouted. "He's in trouble!"

"Don't worry, Big," Tails replied. "We'll get him. I just hope we're not too late!"

* * *

"No… n-no! This can't be happening!"

Synergy spent a good amount of time watching all of the footage Dr. Eggman captured from the Nocturnus Clan's attack. He watched everything from Sonic and the others meeting Shade for the first time to the battle on Angel Island and even footage captured by Metal Sonic, where the heroes allied themselves with aliens from the Twilight Cage to destroy Nocturne.

Speaking of which, he was watching the final battle between Super Sonic and Imperator Ix occur at Nocturne's citadel.

" _Your plan ends here, old man!"_ Super Sonic hollered, as he shot the white echidna with an energy blast. _"Victory's ours for the taking!"_

The camera panned down to showcase Knuckles, Shade, Tails, Shadow, Big, and other heroes banding together to fight the rest of Nocturne's army. From Marauders, random robots…

…to Gizoids.

Synergy was appalled by all of the events he was seeing, but he was astonished by one scene in the entire movie: a scene where Big was fighting against an army of Gizoids.

" _Why are all so mean to my friends!?"_ Big asked in a grumpy tone, as he picked up a Gizoid and tossed it aside. _"I hope I never meet someone like you!"_

Synergy's green eyes widened when he heard that.

That cursed chant replayed in his head.

" _I hope I never meet someone like you!"_

" _I hope I never meet someone like you!"_

" _ **I hope I never meet someone like you!"**_

After all this time, after spending three days exploring the world accompanied by the cat, Synergy couldn't believe that Big neglected to tell him about this incident. He'd been fighting alongside people that wanted to prevent the Nocturnus Clan from returning to Mobius. He didn't know why, nor did he care. His hands began to shake, and his feet started to twitch. He grasped both of his fists, as green electric sparks rained down his whole body.

He felt enraged.

He felt disgusted.

He felt betrayed.

"They lied to me!" he whispered loudly. " _THEY_ _ **LIED**_ _TO ME!_ All this time, they were playing me for a fool! Tricking me into thinking they were the good guys! They kept my people in the Twilight Cage! All they wanted to do was return to their home… but those guys _sent them away!_ " The electric sparks got bigger and the noises they made got louder. "How could they do this to me!?"

Dr. Starline was nervous. "D-Doctor. Maybe it's time we shut him down and reboot him. I-I don't want to know what's going to happen if he stays like this."

"Good idea," Dr. Eggman replied. "I've had enough fun for one night."

Pressing a button on the console, Dr. Eggman watched as two robotic hands came down with tools in their clutches. These were machines that were going to reprogram Synergy. But before they could even touch the Gizoid, he effortlessly broke out of his trap.

Both doctors' eyes lit up.

Synergy grabbed one of the claws and yanked it down from the ceiling. Roaring like a lion, he extended his Chaos claw and destroyed the other machine.

"Shut it down! Shut it down!" Dr. Starline gasped with worry.

"I'm trying!" Dr. Eggman typed rapidly on his computer. "But he's not-"

"Eggman!" Amy shouted. She and the others entered the room. "Let Synergy go!"

"Starline, stop them!"

Just as Dr. Starline created a portal, Whisper shot him in the chest with a cyan laser. Tangle then performed a front clip and punched Dr. Eggman with her tail. Both Orbot and Cubot dropped their cleaning utensils and held up their hands. Tails' team approached the villains.

"You're coming with us, Egg-"

 _ **CRASH!**_

Synergy bashed himself through the chamber's glass window, watching a blanket of fragments cover the ground. He skidded across the floor until he landed in front of Big. He looked at him with anger in his eyes.

"Big…"

"Synergy!" Big smiled happily, opening his arms. "You're ok-"

Before he could hug him, Big's arms were grabbed by the Gizoid. Synergy twisted both of the cat's arms before he kicked him against the wall. He then grabbed the cat again and flung him towards Tails and the others.

Blaze ignited her fists with fire. "Synergy, what's wrong with you!?"

"You all lied to me," Synergy stomped towards them. "You kept my people in that _place!_... You took away my world… _Now, I take away yours._ "

* * *

With no time left to lose, the rest of the Resistance ran back to the Final Egg's entrance.

But they were halted by a random portal. Coming to a stop, they gazed into the portal before familiar faces popped out: Tails' team and Dr. Eggman's crew. Everyone tumbled across the ground, landing on their sides.

Metal Sonic, Rough, and Tumble entered the scene with hopes of taking down the heroes, but they stopped for the same reason.

Then, one last figure emerged from the light.

It was Synergy, who was wearing the Warp Topaz on his right hand.

The rest of the Resistance helped up their friends, amazed by what was happening.

"Synergy!?" Sonic enquired. "What are you doing?"

"You all lied to me," Synergy snarled. "You all fought the Nocturnus Clan years ago! All they wanted to do was bring back their people, but you just had to keep them in the Twilight Cage! You left them in that place… where they were hurt by all of those alien creatures… how could you all do such a thing!?"

"What?" Knuckles asked.

"Synergy, that's not true," Shade stepped forward.

"You betrayed your own people, Shade," Synergy continued. "Imperator Ix raised you like his own daughter, and yet you _defy_ him?"

"I defied him for the _right_ reasons! He wasn't abused by aliens in the Twilight Cage, he abused _them!_ He ruled that dimension as a dictator, and he wanted to do the same thing for Mobius. He couldn't care less about the people of Nocturne, all he wanted was world domination!"

"Liar! You betrayed my people and all of you tried to convince me to do the same!"

"Synergy" G-merl gently walked forward. "I don't know what Egghead did to you in there, but-"

"I'm amazed you have the gall to peace talk me, Emerl," Synergy groused. "You're just as guilty of betrayal as Shade is. Instead of going back to your people, you chose to stay with these no-good liars."

"They're not liars! They're my family!"

"They've completely changed you. They made you _soft_."

"No, they turned me from a robot with no personality into a robot who's loved and appreciated. We wanted the same for you!"

"So, to get me to change, you had to hide the fact that you kept the Nocturnus Clan banished in another dimension?" Synergy scoffed. "And I thought pickpocketing was diabolical. I've had enough of this nonsense! I'm going to do what I should've done since Sonic awakened me: fulfill the wishes of my master and bring my people back! With the power of this Warp Topaz, I can go into the Twilight Cage and-"

G-merl boosted forward and pinned Synergy against the wall of the base.

" _NO!_ " The black/yellow Gizoid hollered. "I'm _not_ going to let you do that!"

"Oh, Emerl," Synergy chuckled evilly, as he pressed a button on G-merl's chest. It revealed his data chips, including the one with Emerl's good personality. "How I wish you saw things my way."

Removing the green chip from G-merl's systems, Synergy kicked the Gizoid off of him. G-merl swept across the ground, landing on his knees. When he looked up at the other robot, his eyes were completely red.

"G-merl?" Cream asked.

The Gizoid completely ignored her.

"Now, then," Synergy said. He suddenly extended his claw and punched Rouge in the chest, revealing the box with all seven Chaos Emeralds. He grabbed it and yanked it towards him.

Dr. Eggman, Dr. Starline, Orbot, and Cubot woke up just in time.

"What's happening?" the fat doctor inquired demandingly, as he gazed to his right and saw Synergy with the Warp Topaz and all seven emeralds. "Oh, my gears and starters." He started to sweat.

Synergy opened the box and the Chaos Emeralds floated around him; each of them was glowing with their respective color. Clenching his fist, the Warp Topaz was also glowing. "Emerl," he declared. "I shall show you my power and you shall obey."

Suddenly, E-123 Omega appeared from the sky and aimed his missiles at Synergy and G-merl.

"PROJECT: SYNERGY," the robot ordered. "YOU ARE TO STAND DOWN IMMEDIATELY OR I WILL HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO OPEN FIRE! THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE!"

" _G-merl, no!_ " Everyone in the Resistance shouted as they all raced forward.

"Chaos…" Synergy began. " _ **BLAST!**_ "

The area was covered in a flash of orange and yellow lights. _**(3)**_

* * *

"…onic?"

He didn't know what just happened nor did he know how It happened.

"…onic? Sonic?... are you all right?"

He heard nothing but voices of a female calling his name. He saw nothing but darkness, but he heard voices and the sound of wood burning. He slowly opened his eyes; his vision was blurry. All he saw was the color orange. Orange flames circled around him, causing him to question what happened before.

"Sonic!? Wake up!"

Sonic the Hedgehog opened his eyes and his eyesight returned to normal. He could finally see more colors than just orange. But sadly, what he was looking at wasn't a sight for sore eyes.

Other than flames, he saw trees that looked like they were chopped down by a violent lumberjack and piles of wood and debris all over the ground. Sonic noticed that he was sitting on the ground, laying on his side. He shook his head and stood up, rubbing his head and moaning.

Amy Rose was sitting right in front of him. She gasped once she saw him move. She then gave him a small hug.

"Sonic, thank goodness," she said with relief, as she released him from the hug. "Are you all right?"

Sonic coughed, "I'm fine… what happened?"

As Sonic coughed again, he tripped on his own feet and collapsed on the ground. Amy gently grabbed Sonic's arm and wrapped it around her. She lifted him off the ground and helped him walk a few feet forward.

As they walked, they saw the bodies of their friends on the ground. They weren't dead, thankfully, but they were wounded and unconscious. Team Chaotix got up and groaned, looking at each other to see if they were okay. Shadow and Rouge got up as well; they both scanned their environment for E-123 Omega. The giant robot was laying on his back.

Tangle and Whisper helped each other up on their feet; they were covered in bruises and scratch marks.

Mighty helped Ray up on his feet. The latter coughed and clenched his stomach.

Silver and Blaze awoke from their state of unconsciousness, unaware of what was going to happen next.

Cream the Rabbit coughed and helped three people who just wanted to earn their pay. They were Nack the Weasel, Bean the Dynamite Duck, and Bark the Polar Bear. All of them coughed and looked at each other with worry.

Knuckles was the last one to wake up. He rubbed his head and saw the Resistance gather together.

"Is everyone all right?" he asked.

Everyone responded, "Yeah,"

"I think I broke my arm," Bean said. "And my leg… and my beak… basically, my everything."

"Where's Eggman?" Shadow snarled, clenching his fist.

Suddenly, Shadow's inquiry was answered when the Resistance turned and saw the shadow of Dr. Eggman in the distance. He looked to be running away from another shadow. The shadow picked him up and chucked him across the area. He landed right beside the Resistance.

Before anyone could do anything, Dr. Starline, Metal Sonic, Rough, and Tumble flew through the smoke and landed against the dirt. All of them were wounded by whatever was on the other side of the smoke.

Cream gasped and cupped her hands together. Nack took out his gun, Bean twirled several bombs, and Bark clapped his fists together.

Everyone looked at each other and readied themselves for another round.

Sonic cracked his fingers and got into a fighting position. "Ready for round two?"

Omega awoke from his slumber and scanned the object coming towards them. "OBJECT IDENTIFIED AS…"

The shadowy figure stopped, revealing himself to be…

…G-merl.

The Resistance kept their battle stance.

"G-merl?" Cream asked with concern, as she walked forward and stopped, frightened of her friend's red eyes. "G-merl, it's me, Cream! Say something!"

"Mwa-hahahahahaha…. Hahaha… _hahahahahahahahaha!_ " Synergy came from the smoke and stood next to G-merl, patting him on the shoulder. "He can't listen to your orders anymore, little girl."

"What have you done to him!?" Amy howled.

"Emerl told me that a man named Gerald Robotnik showed him great power and that made him establish a Link with him," Synergy explained. "So, I showed G-merl my power… and he is now mine to control."

"G-merl, if you're in there," Cream pleaded. "Please, don't do this! We're your family! And we know you wouldn't hurt your family!"

"Please, don't do this, G-merl," Big added.

"Quiet, Cat!" Synergy huffed. "I should have killed you the moment I met you, Big. You're nothing but a useless pawn whose only ability is to waste peoples' time."

Big frowned heavily at that backlash.

"I'm done talking," Synergy nodded, patting G-merl on the shoulder again. "Emerl… _kill them_."

The black/yellow Gizoid obeyed and charged at his former teammates like a rampaging bull. Tails stepped in front of Cream, spreading his arms out.

"Stop, G-merl!" he cried.

But G-merl socked Tails across the jaw.

Sonic and Amy ran forward and grabbed both of G-merl's arms, holding him back. But G-merl launched himself into the air, grabbed Sonic and Amy's arms, and slammed them onto the ground. Mighty and Ray entered the ring, but G-merl grabbed the squirrel and chucked him into the armadillo's stomach.

Tails jumped on G-merl's back while Knuckles and Team Chaotix tackled him, pinning him down. The Gizoid sneered at his friends, as he yanked Tails off of his back and curled into a ball. Spin dashing into Knuckles and the Chaotix, he teleported behind them and kicked them all near Sonic and Amy. Shadow launched a Chaos Spear, but G-merl caught it. He teleported behind Shadow and Rouge and fired a missile at the ground behind them, blowing them back.

Landing on the ground, G-merl felt something ricochet off of his head, a cork.

Glaring to his right, he saw that Nack, who as nervous as a cat, shot a set of corks at the robot. Bean cowered behind him, as Bark rushed forward. The polar bear managed to sneak a few good hits on the Gizoid's head, but G-merl grabbed Bark's arm, spun him around, and flipped him over his shoulder.

He flew over and kicked both Nack and Bean.

"Stop it, G-merl!" Tails shouted. He, Sonic, and Amy charged forward again, but G-merl fought them off effortlessly.

"This isn't you, G-merl! Stop!" Shade grabbed the Gizoid's right arm, attempting to reach for his back, where she hoped to reboot his system. But the Gizoid teleported, breaking free of the echidna's control. He reappeared behind her and kicked her in the back.

Then, G-merl was caught in a psychic bubble.

A bubble created by Silver.

"I got him!" he exclaimed. "Blaze, now!"

Blaze ran forward with hopes of rebooting the android's systems, but G-merl was suddenly sucked into a portal beneath his feet. Silver and Blaze wondered where he went before they turned to Synergy, who used the Warp Topaz to help his ally. G-merl suddenly appeared behind the duo and bashed their heads into the ground.

Tangle wrapped her tail around G-merl's left arm, as Whisper held the other. Both of them failed in their attempts, as G-merl spun around and yanked them off his body.

Sonic, Tails, Amy, Mighty, Ray, and the Chaotix all tackled the Gizoid.

Synergy turned to Dr. Eggman and Dr. Starline, who were both unconscious. He glared upward at Metal Sonic, Orbot, Cubot, Rough, and Tumble. From there, he opened a portal and grabbed both doctors, chucking them through.

"If you're smart, you'd obey me," Synergy snarled.

Without question, Rough and Tumble jumped through the portal with Orbot and Cubot.

Metal Sonic stayed behind.

"I'm not taking orders from you!" Metal grunted, barreling towards the Gizoid. But Synergy redirected the portal and sucked the metal doppelganger inside. Turning over his shoulder, he watched as G-merl pummeled his friends into the dirt.

With one last chuckle, Synergy jumped into the portal and it evaporated out of thin air.

G-merl punched Knuckles and Rouge, as he rolled over and kicked Tangle and Whisper. He blasted Silver, Blaze, Mighty, and Ray. Then, he jumped over Shadow, kicking him in the back. He ducked below Vector's punch and shoved him right on top of Espio and Charmy. The Hooligans came at him like a stampede, but G-merl grabbed Tangle's tail, tossing her into the trio. Amy swung her hammer and slammed it on G-merl's head, but he caught it at the last second. He smacked the pink hedgehog across the face. Shade swung her fists, but she was too slow to avoid a kick to the chest and a punch to the face.

Tails and Sonic, forming a Rolling Combo, double dashed into G-merl. He instantly blocked their attack and bashed them against the dirt. The two of them broke away from their ball forms and skidded across the dirt.

Sonic fell on his side and Tails was on his stomach. To the fox's left, he saw a familiar sight…

…Emerl's data chip.

Cream, Big, and Omega had enough of watching the fight. They decided to do something.

Omega opened fire with a bombardment of missiles and other weapons. "NEW PRIMARY TARGET: G-MERL. OPEN FIRE!"

G-merl evaded the missiles as quick as a ninja and blasted Omega with his own missile.

"G-merl, please stop!" Big wrapped his arms around the Gizoid, trapping him in a bear hug.

"G-merl, stop!" Cream yelled. "This isn't who you are! You're better than this!... please, stop hurting everyone. These are your friends!"

G-merl froze for a quick second before he escaped Big's grasp and blasted the cat. Suddenly, he grabbed the rabbit by the neck and pinned her against a tree.

Tails grabbed the data chip and glanced at G-merl.

Cheese released a battle cry before rushing for the Gizoid. G-merl nonchalantly smacked Cheese out of the air. He tightened his grip around Cream's neck.

"G-G-merl," Cream coughed, struggling to breathe. "S-stop t-t-this!"

G-merl's red eyes stared down into the rabbit's soul, as he pulled his fist back.

Everyone was ready to save Cream.

The Gizoid delivered one final punch…

…but he was thwarted at the last second. _**(3s)**_

Below him, Tails placed the data chip back into his chest compartment. The Gizoid froze, as his eyes went from red to blue. The fox was heavily panting, as he took a few steps back.

 _ **SYSTEM CHECK. CHIP LABEL: EMERL RESTORED.**_

A screen inside G-merl's system spoke to him, as he found himself looking down at a dirt-covered fox. Wondering what happened, he looked to his left and saw that everyone was in the same condition; dirty, bruised, exhausted.

"Guys?" G-merl queried. "What happ… oh, no."

Turning his eyes to face Cream, he realized what he was doing. He was still holding onto her in a choking position. He found himself gazing into the tear brown eyes of his little sister, who puckered her lips and coughed for dear life.

"N-no… what have I…"

Tenderly putting the rabbit down, G-merl backed away, frightened. He watched as everyone else surrounded him.

"What have I done?"

"Are you okay, Cream?" Amy asked.

"Y-yeah," Cream coughed. "I'm fine."

G-merl kept backing away.

"G-merl, are you all right?" Sonic inquired.

"What have I done?" the Gizoid whispered. "What have I done?"

"It's okay, G-merl," Tails said with a soft smile. "Synergy just corrupted your system, that's all. It's gonna be okay."

"I hurt you guys… I hurt everyone… I hurt my little sister."

Everyone was silent. Cream looked at her caretaker with teared-up eyes.

"G-merl?" she softly peeped.

"I… I… I…" the Gizoid replied, taking three steps back. "I'm sorry!"

Not wanting to be in the same area with the people he hurt, G-merl activated his jet boosters and took to the skies.

"G-merl!?" Tails hollered. "Hey, where are you going!?"

"G-merl!?" Cream ran forward. "G-merl, come back! It wasn't your fault!"

The Gizoid was too far away to hear her, he was boosting across the night sky.

"G-merl!?... _G-merl!?_ "

It was too late.

G-merl took off as fast as a cannonball shooting out of a cannon.

Eventually, he was gone.

And everyone was silent.

Team Chaotix shared a sorrowful glance with Mighty and Ray, Tangle wrapped her arm around Whisper, Knuckles and Shade shook their heads, Shadow and Rouge folded their arms beside Omega, The Hooligans brushed themselves off, Silver and Blaze sat down on a rock, Amy comforted both Cream and Big, and Sonic approached a guilt-filled Tails. The two-tailed fox sat down on his knees and looked at a devastated Cream.

Sonic sat down next to him, wrapping his arm around him.

Nack, Bean, and Bark finished cleaning themselves.

"Well," Bean sighed. "At least it can't get any worse."

The sound of helicopters fluttering in the distance distracted the Resistance. Each of them looked up and saw multiple black G.U.N. helicopters surrounded the nearby area. Everyone stayed where they were. Nack, Bean, and Bark widened their eyes.

The duck gulped. "I was wrong!"

 _ **FLASH!**_

Spotlights rained on the heroes like a hurricane, blinding their eyes.

Commander Abraham Tower's voice came through a megaphone. _**"Resistance, this is the Guardian Units of the Nation! We have the place surrounded! Stay there and put your hands up!"**_

Ropes draped from above and crashed against the dirt. Several soldiers with tranquilizer guns cornered the heroes along with assault drones that had the same weapons. A few soldiers landed near Shadow, Rouge, and Omega. They stood in front of them and aimed their weapons at the others. Team Dark unshielded their eyes only to see that the rest of their team was held at gunpoint.

"What the?" Rouge inquired. "Hey! Why are you not gunning at us! Not that I want to be gunned at, but we were helping them too!"

"YOU WERE JUST LOOKING FOR THE RESISTANCE," Omega replied. "YOU WERE NOT AIDING THEM IN HOUSING SYNERGY."

Commander Tower dropped down from the rope and approached the cornered heroes. His soldiers were ready to fire.

The heroes looked at him, still shielding their eyes from the light.

Bean approached the commander. "Hey, Abbie! How's it going? I haven't seen you in a while? Did you get a haircut?"

 _ **POP! (4)**_

Without hesitation, Bean was shot by a tranquilizer dart. It hit him on the shoulder.

"Ow!" he said, feeling drowsy. His eyes were partly closed, and his knees began to buckle. "My cupcakes are in the oven, Grandma."

The duck fell down unconscious.

"Hey!" Nack grunted. "What the-!?"

Two tranquilizers shot him and Bark.

Commander Tower snapped his fingers. "Fire!"

A tsunami of darts shot out of the guns and latched themselves onto the Resistance. Tangle and Whisper fell beside one another. Mighty and Ray fell next to the Chaotix. Silver tried to save Blaze, but she took the hit for him. He took a hit as well. Shade, Amy, Cream, and Big went down together. The only ones left standing were Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles. Tails was the first to go down, then Sonic…

…then Knuckles.

The echidna's vision was clouded, and slobber came out of his mouth.

"N-no…"

He had one last look at his team before everything went black. _**(4s)**_

 _ **END OF CHAPTER 32**_

* * *

 _Wow, that was some ending, huh? Just when the Resistance thought he'd rescue their friend in peace, Synergy ends up reverting back to his old self. And it's all thanks to Dr. Eggman. He just couldn't listen to Starline, could he? Anyways, the Resistance has finally been captured by G.U.N. and G-merl has gone AWOL. Who knows what will happen to the poor Gizoid? Will G-merl come back? What will happen to the Resistance? Where did Synergy take Team Eggman? I guess we'll have to find out in the next chapter. Tune in next time for..._

 _"Chapter 33: Resistance Locked Up!"_

* * *

 ** _POST-A/N:_**

 _G-merl going berserk was inspired by the one scene from Big Hero 6 where Hiro activates Baymax's kill chip once he finds out that Dr. Callaghan killed Tadashi and stole his microbots. Even though the whole twist villain in Disney schtick has gotten old in my opinion, I really enjoyed that specific reveal from Big Hero 6. That's one of my favorite Disney movies and it's totally not because it was co-created by Marvel. That's why I used that one piece of music for that G-merl scene. It's a scene I had drafted for a while._

 _Speaking of which, that G-merl scene was foreshadowed way back in "Chapter 18: Clash of the Villains: Part 1". It also foreshadowed the appearance of The Hooligans._

 _Originally, the scenes where Synergy watches the video were supposed to be told through his point of view, but I decided against it since I think it would drag out the chapter._

 _As always, thank you all so much for taking the time to read. Don't forget to R &R! I'm The Sensational SpiderDom321 and I'll see you next time!_

 _~SD321 (SpiderDom321)_


	33. Resistance Locked Up!

_**A/N:** Just a head's up, everyone. My school has currently extended its Spring Break to _**_two weeks_. **_Yep, you heard that right folks. This means that my online classes won't start until March 30th. So, this shouldn't affect me too much considering a majority of my homework is finished, so I can work on this. But I can also have time to work on my Batman Stop Motion film, "Cuffed". So, with this being said, thank you all so much for **145 reviews** on Awakened. From this chapter onward, the story will enter the final battle. Chapters 34-38 will include the climax of our story before Chapters 39 and 40 reveal our conclusion. What will happen? Let's find out._

 ** _Suggested Music:_**

 ** _(1) Goodbye - Disney/Pixar Cars OST_**

 ** _(2) Iblis - Sonic the Hedgehog 2006 OST_**

 _Without further ado, enjoy the_ show!

* * *

 **Resistance: Locked Up!**

" _Argh_ … _Argh_ , my head… what happened?"

Knuckles the Echidna: Commander of the Resistance woke up with a blurred vision. He couldn't make out where he was, the only colors he could see were cyan, gray, blue, and yellow. Tapping his head a few times, he rubbed his eyes to clear his eyesight, and he blinked twice. His vision started to clear up, but he saw something he didn't expect to see: Sonic and Tails were locked in a jail cell together, protected by a cyan-colored electric force field. Raising an eyebrow, he looked up and saw he was in another cell with the same gate.

"S-Sonic?... T-Tails?... _Argh_ ," Knuckles slowly woke up, rubbing his head.

He looked to his left and saw Shade with her arms folded; her eyes were closed.

"S-Shade?"

The orange echidna opened her eyes and took a breath of relief.

"Knuckles," she said, pulling Knuckles up on his feet.

Sonic and Tails noticed that their friend was awake too.

"Knux, you okay?" Sonic asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Knuckles moaned, rubbing his eyes one more time. "Where are- _whoa!_ "

The echidna looked outside his jail cell and noticed at his entire team was locked up.

Espio, Vector, and Charmy were locked up with Mighty and Ray.

The Hooligans shared a cell.

Tangle and Whisper were locked up with Silver and Blaze.

Team Rose had their own cell.

And lastly, Sonic and Tails shared one too.

"W-where are we!?" Knuckles slammed his fists against the gate, his hands got an electric shock. "We're not on Prison Island, are we?"

"No," Espio replied. He sat in a meditating position. "This is a G.U.N. containment facility in Central City. We're underneath their actual HQ, but this area is a supermax containment area that houses the most dangerous criminals. Lucky for us, we're notplaced with some of the other criminals."

"Where's Commander Tower?" Vector grunted. "I'd like to give him a piece of my mind!"

Speaking of the devil, the G.U.N. commander himself entered the room. He was followed by two soldiers and Brenda: the freelance writer from Empire City and the one who's been banking her buck on the Synergy crisis. She had a video camera in her hand.

Commander Tower shook his head. "You guys are in a _heap_ of trouble."

"Hello, world," Brenda talked to the camera. "The name's Brenda, your friendly neighborhood freelance writer. Today, I'm sitting here with the Resistance, who have been locked up for housing a wanted criminal. I'm just as shocked as you guys are. I thought the Resistance were people we're supposed to look up to."

"Hey!" Amy snarled. "We're still the good guys! If you give us a chance to explain, we can come to a compromise!"

"Oh, you hear that, folks?" Brenda pointed the camera towards Amy. "We got ourselves a fighter. She must be the diva of the Resistance. Meow!"

" _Diva!?_ " Amy whipped out her hammer. "I'll show _you_ a diva!"

"Whoa, whoa, easy, Amy!" Sonic panicked. "That's not gonna solve anything!"

"Commander Tower, let us explain," Shade spoke.

"And _you_ are?" asked the Commander.

"My name is Shade the Echidna: Former general of the Nocturnus Clan. I may not have tagged along with the Resistance much, but they told me everything they've done with Synergy."

"Nocturnus Clan?"

"That's the mysterious group those Marauders came from, Sir," one of the soldiers said. "Remember the incident that happened a few years ago?"

The white-haired general nodded. "Yes, I remember those guys. You say you were their general?"

" _Former_ general," Shade replied strictly. "I do not associate myself with them anymore."

"That doesn't excuse the fact that you worked with them. Why should I trust someone who's part of an evil organization?"

"Hey," Sonic interrupted. "You didn't give Shadow a chance before he proved himself as a hero. Why can't you do the same for Shade?"

Commander Tower turned to the blue hedgehog. He glared at him before he took a deep breath. "I'm sorry to do this, Resistance. Believe me, it pains me to do this. But for allowing Synergy to run loose and housing him for a long time, you are to stay in these cells for a total of six months."

" _SIX MONTHS!?_ " Tangle gasped heavily. "I can't stay here for _that_ long! What am I gonna eat!? Where am I gonna sleep!? Who's going to visit Jewel? Who's going to eat Ron's chili dogs! Oh, the horror! Have mercy on my soul!"

" _Commander,"_ Whisper said softly. _"I'm not sure if you remember me, but you hired the Diamond Cutters and I to infiltrate one of Eggman's bases. I've been with the Resistance for a while and let me just say, it's not what you think."_

"I remember you," Commander Tower replied. "But I don't need an explanation. I already know you guys tried to keep a wanted robot in your clutches. With that, I have no choice but to keep you here. And speaking of which, where is Synergy?"

"He's gone," Amy replied with a snarl. "Eggman did something to him and he went rogue. He stole a magic gem and disappeared."

"What about that _other_ robot that was with you? What's his name, G-merl?"

Team Rose exchanged a worried glance.

"We don't know where he is," Amy spoke, closing her eyes.

"He's just as guilty as you all are," Commander Tower nodded, turning to the soldiers. "Send a search squad and locate G-merl. But don't hurt him, I want him here alive."

"Please… don't hurt G-merl," Cream said tenderly.

"We won't," Commander Tower began to walk out of the room with the soldiers and Brenda. "Try not to do anything reckless while I'm gone. I'll be back later with your dinner."

"Wait!" Sonic yelled. "Give us a chance to explain!"

The door shut behind the commander.

Sonic moaned and kicked the wall. Tails sat down on his metal bed.

All Big could do was sit on his rear with tears in his eyes.

"Eggman didn't hurt Synergy… _I_ did."

Amy and Cream turned to their friend. Everyone else listened.

"What are you talking about?" Mighty inquired. "It wasn't your fault. _All_ of us didn't stop Eggman."

"It's not that, Mr. Mighty," Big continued. "The moment I met Synergy, I said that we would become best friends. I didn't know he was one of those robots those evil echidnas made. I didn't recognize him… all I wanted to do was make him see the world as I do. A place to be free… happy… a place where you could follow your heart and try new things… the past three days have been fun, and I was happy to see Synergy change. But he was right… I _am_ a liar… if I had told him about his people sooner, I wouldn't have gotten us into this mess and Mr. G-merl wouldn't be gone… I'm sorry, everyone."

At that moment, the cat tucked his face into his arms, letting out his true sorrow.

Amy, Cream, and Cheese gathered around him, comforting him.

Froggy jumped on his owner's head.

"Hey, Big… come on, man," Charmy said softly. "Don't cry… we don't wanna see you cry."

The Resistance listened to the cat release his guilt. They wanted to tell him that it wasn't his fault, but they figured it would be best if he got all of his emotions out before they said anything. Instead, they sent their condolences in spirit.

Amy, Cream, and Cheese hugged him.

"Big, don't cry," Amy rubbed the cat's back. "It's not your fault."

"Don't worry, Mr. Big," Cream smiled, wiping a tear off the cat's cheek. "We'll get out of here soon. We can save Synergy together… and you don't need to blame yourself for what happened to G-merl. That was Synergy's doing, not yours. Besides, nobody knows G-merl better than I do. I'm sure he'll come back for us…" the rabbit suddenly let out a low sigh. "At least… I hope so."

Cream looked over and saw a guard that was guarding the door.

She gently tapped on the wall. "Excuse me, Mr. Guard?"

The soldier turned to her. "Yes?"

"Can I make a phone call? There's someone I need to talk to."

* * *

In Floral Forest Village, a village close to Night Carnival…

Vanilla the Rabbit washed the dishes alongside her Chao, Chocola. The brown Chao sang happily, as he cleaned the dishes with a yellow towel. The rabbit chuckled at the Chao's whistling before she heard the phone go off. Turning the sink off, she walked towards the wall phone and answered the call.

"Hello?" she said.

The voice on the other side was Cream.

"Oh, thank goodness. Cream, it's been a while. How's your world adventure going? How's everyone doing?"

Cream told her about her current situation.

" _WHAT!?_ " Vanilla gasped with fear, causing Chocola to be startled by it. "Oh, my goodness, honey! Are you okay!? Do you know how frightened I am! Cream, stay where you are! I'm coming to get you!"

Before Vanilla took off, Cream told her to wait.

"Huh? What is it, Dear?"

Cream told her what happened between G-merl, Dr. Eggman, and Synergy. As Cream told the story, Vanilla's petrified mood turned into a feeling of sadness. She was close to G-merl but not as close as Cream was. She felt bad that the Gizoid took off, thinking everything was his fault.

"G-merl's gone?" Vanilla asked, listening to the rest of the story. "The poor dear… I'll contact G-merl before I leave and come to get you, okay?"

Cream thanked her mother.

"I love you too, Honey. Goodbye," Vanilla hung up the phone and stroked her hair. She then walked towards her Miles Electric and placed in G-merl's name.

She waited for a response.

* * *

 _~G-merl's P.O.V. **(1)**_

What have I done?

What did I do?

Did I just… no, that wasn't me back there, right?

I was under Synergy's control back there. It wasn't my fault. I was just exposed to Synergy's power that my systems were corrupted, and I went crazy. That's all that happened…

…so why did I run away?

Because that _was_ me back there. Regardless if I was mind-controlled or not, that was still _me_. I hurt Sonic and my friends, I allowed Synergy and Eggman to escape, I was throwing my friends around like chew toys, I let Synergy use the Warp Topaz, and… I hurt Cream.

Cream. My little sister. The one who's been there for me since Day One. The one who's taken care of me just as much as I took care of her. After everything we've done, I had the gall to not stop myself from hurting her. You'd think she'd be the one person I wouldn't touch if I ever went crazy, but no. Even when I was corrupted by Synergy, I still attacked her… and I don't know how I can make amends for that.

How would you make amends for hurting someone? I doubt an apology would help. That's like punching someone in the eye on purpose and you say it was an accident. That's not how it works! I nearly choked the life out of my own best friend.

If Tails hadn't stopped me, I would've become the monster I once became when I was Emerl.

So, I know what all of you thinking, where did I go exactly?

Well, I hear from Sonic that Green Hill is a good place to go to when someone's feeling depressed, so that's where I went. Night fell on top of the zone and I could see half the moon on the horizon. The water was crystal clear and fishes were swimming about. The cold wind blew against the grass that brushed against my feet. I kept walking down a long grassy path with my head hung low. Once in awhile, I'd look up and see a family of rabbits wrestling in the dirt. Their mother would come and break up the fight so they wouldn't hurt each other.

Heh, it makes me wonder what would happen if Vanilla was at the fight. If she saw me choking Cream, she'd banish me from the family, telling me to never return so long as she lives.

Speaking of which, I received a message from her. Gotta say, I am nervous to hear this message, but I'd feel even worse if I ignored it. So, I played the message, and this is what I heard.

" _G-merl, it's Vanilla. I heard about what happened between you and Cream in the Mystic Ruins. She told me everything from you helping Big change this Synergy character to you protecting a village invaded by robots. I have to say, I'm happy to see you and Cream fighting together. Even though having Cream out on the battlefield concerns me, it warms my heart to know she has someone like you watching her back…_

"… _but not only am I worried about Cream as of this moment, I'm also worried about you. She told me you were under Synergy's control in the Mystic Ruins. She told me how you went crazy and harmed everyone. If I were there, I would have scared, but I would have also understood_ _ **why**_ _that happened. Synergy mind-controlled you. That wasn't_ _ **you**_ _back there. Cream told me that you nearly choked the life out of her, but Tails stopped you. You took off, afraid. Afraid that you might hurt someone else…_

"… _G-merl, there's no reason to be afraid. What happened back there was beyond your control. You couldn't do anything to stop yourself. And your friends feel the same way. Cream, Tails, Sonic, Amy, everyone you know loves and cares for you, G-merl. Seeing you leave like that left made them worry about you. They need you. You're part of their family… you're part of_ _ **our family**_ _…_

"… _If you're out there, G-merl. Please come home."_

The message ended.

I stopped and took a good look at the moon. I wasn't sure if I was hallucinating, but as I lost myself in the moonlight, I saw a montage of times Cream and I were together. I saw a time where we were picking flowers, helping Vanilla chop down firewood (I might have gone overboard that day), a time where I Cream and Tails trained me to ride an Extreme Gear, and a time where Cream and I watched a beautiful fireworks show on Sonic's birthday. All of those were fun times.

But even after that message and the montage, I still felt guilty for what I've done.

Taking a seat on a nearby platform, I looked up at the moonlight and asked myself…

"How can I make up for what I've done?"

 _~END OF P.O.V. **(1s)**_

* * *

"Doctor… Doctor, wake up… Doctor?... Doctor… _DOCTOR, WAKE UP!_ "

" _GAH!_ " Dr. Eggman gasped heavily when he heard Cubot's loud holler. He looked around him and realized he was surrounded by trees. He sat on top of the grass and noticed that the sky was a lot closer to the ground. "What the!? Where am I?"

The mad doctor suddenly gazed his eyes forward, seeing Rough and Tumble. The two skunks stood next to Metal Sonic and all three were awestruck by something in front of them.

"What are you idiots looking at?" the doctor shouted, as he looked forward and gasped. He slapped Dr. Starline's shoulder, causing him to wake up.

"Huh? What's happening?" Dr. Starline mumbled, as he followed Dr. Eggman's finger, looking at what he's pointing at. His face went pale. "What the?"

Synergy stood on top of the Master Emerald with the Warp Topaz in his hands. The seven Chaos Emeralds kept floating around his body. The villains looked around, noticing that they were close to Shrine Isle.

"Are we on… Angel Island?" Dr. Starline gulped. "This is an incredible discovery! The location of the Master Emerald is right in front of us!"

"This would be more exciting if _he_ wasn't here," Dr. Eggman motioned to Synergy. Both doctors jumped up, joining the others by the shrine.

Synergy clenched his fist. "That video… that video you showed me, Doctor. There was a scene in there where Imperator Ix wanted access to the Master Emerald. He retrieved it, thinking it could help bring his people back to Mobius… but Sonic and the others stopped him. Knuckles stole this gemstone away from him, forcing the clan to stay in the Twilight Cage."

The doctors shared a glance.

"So?" Dr. Eggman shrugged. "They failed to get the Master Emerald, big deal. What does _this_ have to do with us being here!?"

"Since you're the one who helped me find the truth about my people," Synergy replied, turning to the scientist. "I want you to experience a groundbreaking return." _**(2)**_

"Return of what?" Dr. Starline asked.

Synergy refused to answer verbally; he'd rather let his actions do the talking.

The Chaos Emeralds causally rotated around his body, but a few seconds went by and their rotation went faster. The speed of them started to increase until green sparks appeared on Synergy's legs. Both doctors and the skunks raised their eyebrows, as they watched the Master Emeralds blink its glowing light. Synergy clenched his fist, feeling the War Topaz's power run through his circuits. He slowly lifted his arm in the air, letting the villains observe the spirals on the gemstone rotate. To them, it looked like they were watching an optical illusion, but what they were about to witness was definitely no illusion.

The Chaos Emeralds, glowing their respective colors, continued revolving around the Gizoid. The velocity of their swivels increased higher and higher, and the Master Emerald shined a powerful light. Green sparks ignited on Synergy's body, as the Gizoid felt great power enter his systems. He clenched both of his fists, as the black spiral on the Warp Topaz spun at a faster acceleration.

Synergy looked up into the night sky; thick, black storm clouds were in his sight. Suddenly, he shot a massive ball of energy from his magic gemstone into the sky. Amazed, Dr. Eggman and Dr. Starline moved back, watching the portal stop once it reached the tip of a cloud.

A large vortex formed in the sky. It was as big as the entire island.

"Is the Warp Topaz supposed to do that!?" Dr. Eggman asked.

"I-I don't know!" Dr. Starline replied with a stutter.

"What do you mean you _don't_ know!? You're the one who built the darn thing!"

"I didn't _build_ it, I _found_ it!"

"Oh, same difference!"

Synergy struggled to keep the portal at normal stability, the over surge of power threw him off balance. But his determination and rage kept him going. In other words, he kept the portal opened but as he did so, he slowly pulled his arm back.

"I can't take much more of this!" the egg-shaped scientist snapped. "Metal, destroy him!"

Metal Sonic obeyed. It was difficult for him to charge forward because electric fields from the Master Emerald kept shooting at him. But since he was programmed to mimic Sonic's speed, Metal boosted through the projectiles until he approached the Gizoid. But to his surprise, Synergy smacked the robot to the ground with a golden spear. But a bigger surprise was that it didn't destroy him. Instead, Metal tumbled to the ground, landing beside his creator.

Rough and Tumble swallowed nervously.

Orbot and Cubot hugged one another, shaking with agony.

Synergy continued pulling his arm back; he looked like he was pulling something out of the portal. Dr. Starline could tell because he part chunks of dirt fall from the portal and into the ocean. The platypus squinted his eyes and adjusted his glasses, trying to identify what the object is.

His answer came to him. Disturbance and discomfort ran through his veins.

Synergy brought down a large structure with tall buildings and a massive citadel at the hub of the city.

That city was known as…

…Nocturne.

The homeworld of the Nocturnus Clan has returned to Mobius thanks to its former resident. Years ago, Imperator Ix attempted to use the Master Emerald to move Nocturne back to Mobius. Now, one of his greatest creations continued his legacy. Synergy yanked and pulled on the city one more time before he brought it close to Angel Island. Surprisingly, the width and height of the island mirrored Angel Island, but the buildings stood taller than some of the trees. Using the Master Emerald's power, Synergy was able to combine the two islands together, making it one single landmark.

Everyone in the Eggman Empire was frightened. They didn't want anymore with this, so they took off running, screaming. Metal Sonic, reluctant to retreat, followed his master.

"Leaving so soon?" Synergy snarled, as he created a portal below Team Eggman's feet.

The villains fell through the wormhole and landed on top of a tan-colored concrete ground. They moaned, rubbed their heads, and looked up. Gasping heavily, they found themselves at the front door of Nocturne's citadel. Large pillars on the side (ones that looked like echidnas) lead to a giant structure with a blue energy ball connected to two pillars on the very top.

Suddenly, dark shadows emerged from the pillars and stared at the villains. They were the Marauders; echidnas wearing black armor with blue symbols of their clan. Thousands of soldiers ran towards the villains and aimed their weapons at them, demanding to know who they were.

But before they could fire, they were halted by the appearance of an old friend: Synergy.

The Gizoid stepped into the portal, causing the Marauders to stop.

"What's going on out here!?" an elderly voice shouted.

A Mobian creature wearing a purple, black, and gold cloak slowly bypassed the crowd of soldiers and stopped in front of the robot and the villains. The Mobian was an echidna with white/greyish-blue fur all over his body. In his hand was a golden scepter that resembled the moon.

His named was Imperator Pir'Oth Ix.

"What's the meaning of this?" Imperator Ix demanded, as he turned to face his former creation. His eyes widened. "Impossible… Project: Synergy?"

"Master," Synergy took a bow. "I apologize for being late with my return. I've been lied to by my old enemies of yours: Sonic the Hedgehog, Shade the Echidna, Knuckles the Echidna, and the rest of the Resistance. All you wanted to do was restore our clan, but they stopped you… so, I have come to help you bring our people back."

The leader of the clan turned to his soldiers. A smirk painted on his face.

"Why, yes," Imperator Ix replied. "All I wanted was to bring the Nocturnus Clan back to Mobius, but everyone was against me. What monsters! Now, thanks to you… we can restore our people and rebuild our city!"

"Yes, Master!" Synergy nodded. "And I want to help you do that!"

"Good," Imperator Ix suddenly turned to Dr. Eggman and the others. "I remember you. You thwarted my plans before. You survived then, but you threw it all away now."

Dr. Eggman, Dr. Starline, Rough, Tumble, Orbot, and Cubot shivered. Metal Sonic stood, ready to fight.

"Take them to the dungeon!" Imperator Ix demanded.

The soldiers captured the Eggman Empire and dragged them to the citadel.

Synergy approached his master.

"Now then," Imperator Ix smiled. "Let's move on with my plans, shall we?"

Imperator Ix and Synergy shared an evil cackle. _**(2s)**_

* * *

Back in the G.U.N. Prison Facility, Sonic leaned his head against the wall. Since he and Tails' cell was connected to Team Rose's cell, he leaned against the window and watched Cream comfort Big. Amy was also leaning against the wall. If there wasn't a glass window blocking them, their heads would be touching. The blue hedgehog was bored out of his mind, but he figured that running rampant could cause more harm than good. But thankfully, Brenda wasn't here to harass them anymore.

Amy sighed before she looked over Sonic's shoulder, noticing that Tails has his arms folded over his legs. He seemed more distressed than anyone else. The pink hedgehog recalled the one conversation she had with Tails in Resistance HQ. She also remembered telling Sonic that Tails needed to talk to him. With a single nod, she gently knocked on the window, getting the hedgehog's attention.

"Sonic,"

"Huh? What's up, Ames?"

"Remember when we were in the Mystic Ruins, I said that Tails needed to talk to you about something?"

"Yeah, why?"

Amy motioned to Tails. Sonic followed her motion, noticing Tails' expression.

"Talk to him, Sonic. He needs you."

The Blue Blur nodded and smiled, as he jumped up and sat next to his best friend.

"Hey, little buddy."

"Hmm? Oh, hey, Sonic," the fox rubbed his eyes.

"Amy says you wanted to tell me something. What's on your mind?"

"I've actually been wanting to talk with you for a while, but due to our current situation, I wanted to hold it off until the time is right."

"Well, seeing as how we're not going anywhere soon, I figured now might be a good time to chat. So, what's going on, Tails? What'd you want to talk about?"

The fox's heart pounded like a drum. He couldn't believe this moment was finally happening. Throughout the entire escapade, he wanted nothing more than to express his thoughts. He told Amy about his dilemma in Resistance HQ, but it has been quite some time since then. Now that they're stuck in jail, Tails took a deep breath and decided to tell the truth.

"You know that I went solo during the war, right?" the fox began.

"Yeah, why?"

"Did I ever tell you _why_ you went solo?"

Sonic raised an eyebrow. "No, I don't think so. Why?"

"Well… after Infinite and his crew defeated you, I tried to rescue you, but I was knocked out by Zavok. When I woke up, I was inside the hospital of Resistance HQ. I found out that Knuckles was forming a team to fight against the Eggman Empire. I tried to convince the team that you were alive, but they kept telling me to move on and help them fight Eggman. I spoke with Knuckles one day and asked him if I can venture out on my own to find you. Surprisingly, he said yes, and I left."

Sonic heard Tails sigh before he continued the story.

"I spent a few months venturing on my own. I stayed away from several battles between the good guys and Eggman's empire; however, I helped some civilians escape from Eggman's clutches. It didn't take long for me to discover Omega in the streets of Green Hill City. I tried to repair him, but I didn't have enough equipment to fix him. Suddenly, Chaos showed up. Now, keep in mind, this was Chaos 0 that was coming towards me. Now, you'd expect someone who fought Chaos 4 to fight Chaos 0, right?"

"I'd say so, I know you took down Chaos 0," Sonic replied.

"No… instead, I turned my back and screamed your name. My body was shaking, my heart was pounding, and my hands were clammy. I couldn't believe I cowered away from Chaos like that. I remember fighting him in his fourth form as well as Dr. Eggman when I was younger. How could I not take on Chaos 0? It didn't take long for that other you from a parallel dimension to show up. He didn't talk much, but he and I _'worked together'_ to find you."

"Why did you say, _'worked together'_ with quotation marks?"

"Because we didn't work as a team. No, _he_ did all of the work. He fought the Egg Dragoon and took care of all the Badniks while all I did was cheer from the sidelines and I don't know why. I could have easily taken down several Egg Pawns, but instead, I let the other Sonic do it. I felt like I was just a kid again; a kid who didn't know _anything_ about combat. It was embarrassing!...

"…It's even more embarrassing because even when we found you, I _still_ didn't do anything to help the Resistance. All I did was find a faulty article on the Phantom Ruby and I encourage the Rookie to use the prototype he found to stop the sun from crashing down on Mobius. Then, I followed little Sonic through the Iron Fortress until we met up with you and the Rookie. That was the moment Eggman revealed his Death Egg Robot…

"…Even though the contraption was just another remake of the Egg Nega Wisp, _I_ didn't do anything to help. You, little Sonic, and the Rookie fought off the robot and I just supported you from the sideline! I'm an experienced Freedom Fighter who's been alongside you for a long time! Why on earth would I stand around like an idiot and do _nothing!?_ " the fox fell silent after a slight outburst. He panted three times before his equanimity returned to him. "Which brings me to now. Ever since the war ended, I've felt like a nuisance to everyone, thinking they could all do better without me."

"Tails, that's not true. You've been helping a lot."

"It doesn't feel like it. A few days ago, I mindlessly snapped at you for wanting to fight Synergy by yourself. I know you were injured, and you knew that I didn't want you to risk your life again, but I was being obnoxious. All I wanted to do was make sure a repeat of your encounter with Infinite didn't happen again. I wanted to go with you because… I wanted to redeem myself for messing things up. So far, I haven't made up for anything…

"I allowed Synergy to escape into Soleanna and he destroyed the first Tornado. I also allowed him to destroy the Miles Electric that was tracking him down. And instead of volunteering to go with you to find Silver in Wave Ocean, I just stayed behind and repaired my faulty machine. A machine that I should've kept safe in the first place. And to make matter worse, I couldn't protect Synergy from Dr. Eggman. It's obvious Eggman tricked him into thinking we were the bad guys during the Marauder Incident, and I wasn't fast enough to stop him. If I had just gotten to Synergy before that happened, we wouldn't be stuck in this mess…

"And then there's a few moments ago: G-merl going berserk. Instead of fighting G-merl, I should have just looked for his data chip. That way, the fight could've ended sooner. But like an idiot, I found myself being thrown around like a chew toy."

"Granted, we were _all_ thrown around like chew toys."

"I know that, but I should've been faster when it came to finding G-merl's personality chip. If I had found it sooner, none of us would be injured, none of us would be arrested, and G-merl wouldn't be gone. Because of me, Cream feels horrible. Because of me, Big feels guilty. Because of me… we lost… we lost, Sonic. We lost Synergy, we lost Eggman's location, we lost _everything_ … how on Mobius can a dope like me make up for that?"

When the fox finally finished, Sonic the Hedgehog was nothing but stunned.

It took him a laborious amount of time to register all that was said.

And as if Sonic wasn't stunned, the rest of the Resistance was too. They heard and felt everything. Each of them exchanged the same glances, as they turned to a depressed two-tailed fox, who buried his face in his arms.

Sonic leaned against the wall, not knowing what to say. He knew Tails would doubt himself over certain situations, but he didn't think the fox would bottle up all of his problems to the extreme. Not only was it not good for him mentally, but it's put an effect on his friendship with Sonic. Speaking of which, the hedgehog was still formulating a proper response.

He didn't want to start with a joke since that would make things worse. But he also wanted his response to be helpful and encouraging. Sharing a small glance with Amy, Cream, and Big, the Blue Blur smiled and cracked his fingers; he had his answer ready.

"I'm sorry if this was too much for you," Tails replied. "But I just wanted to get things off my-"

Before he could finish, Sonic immediately hugged his little brother, showering him with nothing but affection. Tails was stunned by the situation he was in, as a few tears dropped down his eyes. He slowly wrapped his arms around the hedgehog, holding him tight. He released a few more tears, as Sonic rubbed his back.

Everyone in the prison watched them hug and shared the same smiles.

Sonic released his best friend and patted him on both shoulders. "It's okay, Tails… We all have those times were we feel small and worthless. Moments where you mess things up and don't know what to do. But that doesn't mean you should go into despair because you _have_ done some good. Throughout this adventure, you've helped us fight Rough and Tumble, you've tracked down G-merl in Windmill Village, you tried to help Shade when you first saw her again, and you even supported the idea of changing Synergy into a good guy."

The fox sniffed before he smiled.

"You shouldn't feel horrible for making mistakes because you're not alone," Sonic smiled. "Everyone in this room, including myself, has made mistakes. And they all know that they can forgive and help each other in times of helplessness. And this is what we will do now too. We'll always remain by each other's sides, and no matter what happens, we stay together and help one another, because that's what being friends is all about."

"Tails," Shade added. "Take it from someone who's had experience with this. Sonic couldn't be any more right. We all have times where we're lost and alone, but you have to remember…" she shared a glance with Knuckles. "You have family and friends that can help."

Everyone agreed with the orange echidna.

"Eww, this friendship stuff's making me sick," Nack coughed.

"Oh, shut up," Bean replied. "Don't ruin the moment."

"Even though Charmy can be a little turd," Vector chuckled. "He's someone I can rely on."

"And Vector may smell like a skunk, but I can count on him too," replied the bee.

"Exactly!... _HEY!_ "

Everyone laughed at Vector and Charmy's banter.

Sonic looked at Tails.

"How are you doing, Tails? You feel better?"

"Yeah," Tails replied. "I feel-" the fox was about to say he felt better, but he was distracted by something in the distance, a television screen. However, the TV was showing a news report. A news report that was centered around Angel Island and Nocturne. Recognizing the latter, Tails jumped from his seat and approached the wall. Team Rose was confused by his gesture, so they looked at the TV and had the same reaction: scared.

"What's the matter, buddy?" Sonic inquired. He looked at the TV and his eyes widened. "Uh, oh. Knuckles, Shade, everyone! Look at this!"

The Resistance watched the news broadcast.

"Wait," Knuckles squinted his eyes. "Is that Angel-"

 _ **FLASH!**_

" _Arrgh!_ "

The echidna fell on his knees, feeling a strong course of pain through his head. Everyone gasped with worry, as they watched Shade help the echidna on his feet.

"Knuckles," Shade said with concern. "What's wrong?"

"It's the Master Emerald," Knuckles rubbed his head. "It's calling to me… it's saying that Nocturne and Angel Island are combined together."

"W-what!?" Shade whispered, flabbergasted. "How's that possible!? How is Nocturne back!?"

"I thought we destroyed that place!" Amy said.

"Wait, Nocturne?" Silver inquired. "What's Nocturne?"

"It's the place I was raised," Shade replied. "It was my home when I was part of the Nocturnus Clan. It was banished to the Twilight Cage 4,000 years ago because of a supernatural occurrence. I don't understand how it could be back."

" _Did Synergy do this?"_ Whisper inquired.

Tails snapped his fingers. "Last time we saw Synergy, he had the Warp Topaz _and_ the Chaos Emeralds. That means he used the Master Emerald's power to bring Nocturne back!"

"That jerk!" Silver slammed his hand against the door, getting an electric shock. "We go through the trouble of changing him and he does _this!?_ "

"Easy, Silver," Blaze said. "Remember, Dr. Eggman tricked Synergy into believing the Nocturnus Clan were good and _we_ were the bad guys. His anger is understandable; however, he needs to be stopped. What's our plan?"

Before the commander can discuss the plan, Shadow, Rouge, and Omega entered the room.

"What took you guys so long?" Sonic snarled.

"Sorry," Rouge rolled her eyes. "We had to sit through a long G.U.N. lecture. Sheesh, I felt like I was in college."

Shadow and Omega quickly entered override codes into each cell, freeing the members of the Resistance.

"Yes! Sweet freedom!" Bean cheered, kissing the ground. " _Pleh!_ The concrete tastes like concrete!"

"Commander Tower's letting us go?" Tangle asked. "Awesome! I knew he'd come around! It's just like my comic books; the government realizes the heroes are good guys and decide to help them!"

"Not necessarily," Shadow answered. "G.U.N. doesn't know we're setting you free. We saw the news."

"I APOLOGIZE FOR MY BEHAVIOR," Omega nodded. "I THOUGHT I WAS FOLLOWING LOGICAL ORDERS, BUT AFTER SEEING THE RETURN OF NOCTURNE, I REALIZE THAT I WAS WRONG. I AM SORRY."

"It's cool, Omega," Amy winked with a thumbs up. Everyone and herself turned to Knuckles. "So, Commander? What's the plan?"

Knuckles shared a glance with everyone. He clapped his fists and grinned. "Huddle up, everyone. Amy and I have an idea!"

Nack gulped, whispering to Bark. "Just when I thought we were getting out of here!"

 _ **END OF CHAPTER 33**_

* * *

 _Holy cow! Looks we like we got some good news and some bad news. Good news is that the Resistance were able to get out of jail thanks to Team Dark. The bad news is, Imperator Ix and the Nocturnus Clan are back! That's right, the man who's been seen throughout most of G-merl and Synergy's flashbacks has finally returned to Mobius. Now that he has the Eggman Empire in his clutches, he has big plans for world domination. Will the Resistance stop him in time? Will they save the Master Emerald? Can they restore Synergy to his good side? Find out as the final battle begins in..._

 _"Chapter 34: Angel Nocturne: Part 1"_

* * *

 ** _POST-A/N:_**

 _My original plan for the climax was to have Synergy take over the Eggman Empire in Metropolis, but I thought that would make it seem similar to Operation: Big Wave from Sonic Forces. So, I decided to have something else. Since Imperator Ix and the Nocturnus Clan are mentioned throughout the story, I figured why not have them serve as the, for lack of a better term, final boss of the story. We'll see seeing how our heroes go toe-to-toe with them._

 _I really hope that Sonic and Tails scene was worth the wait. I had it proof-read by Infinite's Ruby as well as a few of my other friends on here and I am happy with the final result, but seeing as how this subplot was introduced **way** back in Chapter 4. I figured having the Resistance in jail would give the perfect opportunity for Sonic and Tails to have their talk. Rather than have Tails share his problems in the past, I figured I'd show him going through more problems in the story such as the G-merl incident and letting Synergy get corrupted, so that way, he can add more to his story. I hope it was worth the wait. I know my good friend, TGN, was looking foward to it._

 _Even thought I expressed this with Sonic Heroes: The Atom Bomb, which triggered an annoying Guest reviewer (rolls eyes), but I wasn't happy with how Tails has been treated as of late. SEGA needs to make him like his IDW counterpart, where he can actually **do** stuff. I have a similar tangent about Shadow in the POST-A/N of Chapter 34._

 _Response to TheLostEternity: Thank you so much for reading Chapters 31 and 32, it really means a lot. Hopefully, Synergy will come around and see the error of his ways. You're right, G.U.N. is filled with a bunch of idiots. They've always been a shady corporation. But let's hope they can come to their senses during the fight on Nocturne._

 _As always, thank you all so much for reading! Don't forget to R &R! I'm The Sensational SpiderDom321 and I'll see you all next time!_

 _~SD321 (SpiderDom321)_


	34. Angel Nocturne: Part 1

_**A/N:** Originally, I was just going to upload Chapter 33 today, but since I have this one done and that I want to thank everyone for supporting this, I wanted to treat you all to a double-feature. _

_This is it, everyone! The final battle of Awakened finally begins. Last time, Synergy brought back the Nocturnus Clan and combined the city of Nocturne to Angel Island thanks to the Master Emerald's power. And while the Eggman Empire sits in jail, the Resistance was freed by Team Dark. Now, we see them coming up with a plan to take back Angel Island. These next few chapters are inspired by the IDW Sonic Battle for Angel Island storyline, but I've added my own twists and turns. Obviously, Neo Metal Sonic is no longer here, so there's that. Thank you all so much for joining me this far. Let's see what happens when the Resistance goes toe-to-toe with Synergy and the Nocturnus Clan! Let the battle begin!_

 ** _Suggested Music:_**

 ** _(1) Theme of the Resistance (Title Screen Ver.) - Sonic Forces OST_**

 ** _(2) Dr. Eggman Showdown! - Sonic Lost World OST_**

 ** _(3) King Bowser - Super Mario Galaxy OST_**

 _Without further ado, enjoy the show!_

* * *

 **Angel Nocturne: Part 1**

 _ **(1)**_ Moments later, Team Dark escorted the Resistance to a private meeting room. Everyone except for Sonic, Knuckles, Amy, and Shade stood against a crate of supply boxes against the wall. The other four heroes stood in front of a computer, showcasing a map of the new Angel Island. The red echidna paced back and forth, thinking of his motives. He left Sonic and Amy to explain their battle plan.

"Okay, everyone, listen up," Amy said. "First off, thanks for sticking around for this long. I know this has been tiring, but it warms my heart to know you're all still here."

"Likewise," Sonic winked. "We're gonna need all of you."

"Synergy and Imperator Ix are working together," Knuckles grumbled. Everyone listened. "They've taken over _my_ island! Used the Master Emerald's power for this own selfish desires!" He heavily facepalmed himself. "I shouldn't have left."

"You were down here leading an army into war," Shade patted the echidna's shoulder. "And now, we're going to help you get your home back."

"Shade's right," Amy nodded, as she uploaded a closer diagram of both islands. "We're going to split into three teams. Team A will consist of the Chaotix, the Hooligans, and Team Dark. You'll strike down the city's exterior defenses. Those cannons are strong, so watch yourselves. Team B will be Tails, Tangle, Whisper, Silver, Blaze, and I. We'll find the Chaos Emeralds in the citadel. Team C will locate the Master Emerald and break its control over Nocturne."

" _I'm on Team C!_ " Knuckles hollered.

Sonic chuckled, folding his arms. "I think everyone assumed that, Knux."

"Pardon me, Amy," Blaze approached the hedgehog. "May I offer a more direct option?"

"Of course," Amy smiled.

"I could confront Synergy and/or Imperator Ix as _Burning Blaze._ "

"Wha-ha-ha-at!?" Sonic gasped excitingly. "Burning Blaze vs Synergy!? I'd pay good money to see _that_ battle!"

"How is that possible?" Amy asked. Tangle and the Hooligans overheard that and listened closely.

From there, Blaze summoned a fiery ring and all seven Sol Emeralds were attached. Tangle and the Hooligans' eyes lit up with sparkles. Their jaws dropped to the floor.

"As most of you know," the lavender cat explained. "If Sonic gathers all seven Chaos Emeralds, he can use their power and become Super Sonic. In my world, we have similar gems called the Sol Emeralds. Like Sonic, I can call upon their power and become Burning Blaze."

"So, shiny!" Bean said. He went to touch the emerald before he burned his hand. " _Ouch!_ "

Everyone was excited about that plan except for Tails.

"Maybe we shouldn't."

"What!?" Sonic asked. "Why not? It'd be awesome!"

"I'm sorry to be like this, but Synergy and Imperator Ix have control of the Master Emerald. What if they use it to neutralize the Sol Emeralds as it can do with the Chaos Emeralds?"

"It can't," Knuckles replied. "Don't ask how I know."

"Then what if Synergy copies your abilities, Blaze?" Tails continued. "He's a Gizoid. He can mimic any combat move performed by anyone. If he gathers your biodata or worse the Sol Emeralds' biodata, he could use it against us."

"So, my idea was bad then?" Blaze asked, distressed.

"What? No, no! It's not bad at all, it's just-"

Silver wrapped his arm around Blaze. "What Tails means to say is, there's a chance Synergy could use your weapon against you. He's just looking out for you, Blaze. That's all. I will admit, as much as I like the plan, I think it's best we stay away from Synergy and/or Imperator Ix."

"Of course," Blaze nodded. "Thanks for looking out for me, guys. I appreciate it."

"You're welcome," Silver nodded with a smile.

"Actually, this gave me a new idea," Amy snapped her fingers. "Synergy and Ix shouldn't be anywhere hear the cannons. Blaze, I want _you_ to be part of Team A. Sonic, Shade, Knuckles, Big, and Cream will be Team C. Everyone else is Team B!"

"Um… excuse me," Cream raised her hand. "I don't want to be rude, but I don't think I should come with you guys. Not without G-merl, at least. This may sound selfish, but can I stay down here and look for G-merl? I want him to know this whole thing wasn't his fault."

"Why would it be selfish?" Mighty replied. "Of course you can, Cream."

"I want to help find Mr. G-merl too," Big raised his hand.

"Okay," Amy nodded. "So, Cream and Big will stay and locate G-merl. Everyone else is coming along. Any questions?"

Nack raised his hand. "Um, I have-"

"Good! Let's do it to it, everyone!"

The weasel gulped with nervousness. "Aw, nertz."

"We have a battleship that can get us to the island," Rouge said. "Hop aboard, everyone! Let's go steal the Master Emerald-I mean, free Angel Island!" _**(1s)**_

* * *

In the skies above the Mystic Ruins and Station Square, a massive blue, silver, black, and gold battleship known as the Restoration Shuttle flew past the dark storm clouds. It was still nighttime, and everyone was determined to liberate Angel Island.

Inside of the rooms, Sonic and Whisper were having a conversation.

"I really appreciate you sticking around," the blue hedgehog nodded. "I know crowds aren't your thing, but I'm glad you helped us out. Thank you, Whisper."

" _You're welcome,"_ the biscotti wolf replied. She had the frame Synergy gave her in her hands. _"I won't forget the friends I've made here. Synergy made me this frame. That, I cannot forget. I pray he'll come around and see the error of his ways."_

"We can only wait and see. I'll give you some space. Be safe down there, okay?"

" _You too."_

The blue hedgehog left the room, giving Shadow and Rouge a chance to enter.

The black hedgehog sat down next to the wolf.

"I'm probably the last person you want to see right now," Shadow spoke softly. "But I just wanted to say… I'm sorry. I remember you from the war. I recognize your mask; I should have noticed sooner when we fought in White Park. Tangle told me about your former friends, and I want to apologize for your loss. May they rest in peace."

" _Thank you."_

"But I also know what it's like to lose those who are close to you. It's hard to deal with, but just know that there's always someone there to help you on your feet."

" _I realize that now. I'm sorry for attacking you."_

"Apology accepted. You're forgiven."

Rouge smiled at the heartwarming moment.

" _Stay safe down there, Shadow. Good luck."_

"Likewise."

Watching the trio through a glass window were Amy and Blaze.

"Are you sure you're up for this, Blaze?" the former asked. "I might've gotten overboard when I said you'll be on Team A."

"Don't worry," Blaze folded her arms. "I'll be fine… you know, it's amazing. Years ago, I was reluctant on having friends. Now, I march off to war with the lot of you."

"It's gonna be rough out there. Stay safe."

"Don't worry," Blaze smiled. "We'll win the day."

"Ha-ha, you're right," Amy chuckled. "Guess I need to stay positive."

"I learned from the best."

* * *

In another room, Tangle and Silver were playing cards with the Chaotix, Mighty, and Ray. Nack was shooting his popgun at a target attached to Bean's head. He kept hitting the duck's chest on accident.

Tangle kept glaring at Silver. "You're not using your mind tricks to read my cards, are you?"

"What?" the white hedgehog raised an eyebrow. "Oh, you think I'm telekinetic? No, no, I'm psychokinetic. I can _move_ things with my mind, but I can't _read_ minds. You understand what I'm saying, right?"

Tangle's tail tapped Silver on the shoulder.

"Huh?" Silver turned around, seeing that no one is there. Tangle's tail stole one of Silver's cards. "What the?"

"Sure, I do, buddy," Tangle took the card, chuckling.

"I swear, someone just tapped-" He noticed that one of his cards was gone. " _Huh!?_ Hey, one of my cards is gone!"

"Aw, man!" Tangle whined. "Your hand's worse than mine!"

Everyone shared a laugh…

…everyone except Knuckles.

The red echidna found himself staring out the window. Nothing but dark clouds in sight. Ray lowered his cards and glanced at his friend. He was worried about him, so he took a deep breath and kept a smile on his face.

"H-h-hey, Knuckles. W-w-w-would you l-like to p-p-play with us?"

"Sorry, Ray, but I can't. My island needs me. I don't have time for games."

"Come on, Rad Red," Mighty added. "Just one game?"

"No. I'm sorry, Mighty."

"So… you're just gonna sit there until we arrive?" Vector inquired.

"Yes."

"Suit yourself."

Mighty and Ray felt bad for the echidna, as they returned to the game.

Shade quickly approached Knuckles. "You know, they're just trying to cheer you up."

"I know and I appreciate it," the Guardian replied. "But I want to focus on getting my island back. But I gotta say, I'm happy you came through. Fighting the Nocturnus Clan wouldn't be the same without you. Cool outfit, by the way."

"Thank you," Shade chuckled. "I came back because I'm tired of running from my past. It made me ignore all the friends I've made in the past. Unfortunately, I came back to a more dire situation."

"Hey, whether the circumstances are good or not, it's good to have you back."

"It's good to _be_ back."

The two echidnas exchanged a heartwarming smile…

…before the moment was ruined by Vector, Tangle, and Charmy.

"Knuckles and Shade are sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" They sang. "First comes love, then comes-"

" _ **SHUT UP!**_ " the red guardian hollered.

* * *

In the Main Deck of the ship, Sonic entered and playfully saluted the ship's pilot: Tails.

"Sir, permission to come aboard, Sir?" Sonic spoke like a military soldier.

The fox laughed. "Permission granted, soldier," he replied with the same voice.

The speedy hero approached his best friend. "Smooth sailing, captain?"

"Steady as she goes. What brings you up here?"

"I guess I'm too excited to hang out with everyone else. It's been a while since I turned Super Sonic and showed Ix who's boss. Speaking of which, it's gonna be weird seeing him again. Especially for Shade. I hope she's okay."

"She seems determined to help us. I know we can count on her."

"How are _you_ feeling? Did our little talk help you out?"

"Yes, it did. Thanks for reassuring me," the fox's smile quickly became a frown. "Although, I still feel guilty about G-merl. I hope Cream and Big can find him okay."

"I wouldn't worry about it," Sonic winked with a thumbs up. "Cream and G-merl are like two peas in a pod, so I think they'll- _Look out!_ "

A streak of blue energy was flying towards the shuttle.

Tails gasped and mashed multiple buttons on the console. He shot a homing missile at the blue streak, blasting it to smithereens.

The loud explosion drove Knuckles and Shade into the room.

"What the heck was that?" the former inquired with a worried tone.

All four of them gathered by the control console, staring out the window. They arrived at their destination.

Standing in front of them was Angel Island merged with Nocturne. The heroes found it weird how both landmarks that have several different features can work well as cohesive structure. Of course, they were distracted by Imperator Ix's citadel, which was the largest centerpiece on the entire island. Knuckles felt the power of the Master Emerald from below. He groaned but made sure to keep it together.

Suddenly, a transmission came on the radio.

" _Knuckles the Echidna, Shade the Echidna, Sonic the Hedgehog, and friends,"_ It was Imperator Ix. _"I was hoping you'd arrive. I've been wanting to finish things for a long time."_

Sonic stretched his arms and legs. "What's up, Ix? It's been a while. Last time I checked; I whooped your sorry behind as Super Sonic! You should've seen the look on your face once I fired that final blast! It was priceless!"

" _Your cockiness still remains with you, Hedgehog. But unlike you,_ _ **I've**_ _changed since our last encounter. I've been getting faster, stronger, and better than any other warlord in the Twilight Cage, preparing for my return to this planet. Thanks for an old creation, that day has finally come."_

"You're not getting away with this, Ix," Shade grunted. "We defeated you once, we can defeat you again."

" _I'm not surprised you're on that ship, Shade. I was hoping you'd be here. I still remember the day you betrayed me."_

"You've haunted me for the longest time, and I've let you push me away from my friends. You don't scare me anymore, Ix. I'm _done_ running from my problems."

" _Very poor choice of last words, Shade." **(2)**_

With that being said, the Restoration Shuttle was bombarded with cannonballs and lasers galore. Shots were fired on all sides of the ship, causing it to be thrown off balance; it felt like an earthquake in there. Knuckles, Shade, and Sonic hung on for dear life. Tails steered to the left and fired missiles at the projectiles, shooting them to bits. But even with his expert aim, he couldn't stop all of the projectiles from damaging the ship. He reached for the megaphone and spoke to the Resistance.

"This is it, everyone! Get ready to roll!" he turned to the others behind him. "Ix's not taking any chances! The entire fleet's bombarding us! You, Shade, and Knuckles take the Extreme Gear and get down below I'll get us as close as we can but-"

"Stay safe, Tails!" Sonic saluted. "Good luck!"

"Come on, Shade! Follow me!" Knuckles said.

Both echidnas and the hedgehog ran out the door.

The Restoration Shuttle drove through the bombardment, making its way to the island.

* * *

In the garage, Sonic, Knuckles, and Shade met up with Team A: Team Dark, Team Chaotix, and Team Hooligan. The mercenaries were trying to get ready on the Marvelous Queen, but they had trouble managing because of the explosions.

"What's going on out there!?" Nack hollered angrily.

"Ix's attacking. It's time to rumble!" Sonic replied.

He and Knuckles grabbed their Extreme Gear and opened the door. Sonic hopped onto his board and drove off into the night. Shade on the back of Knuckles' board and the two of them took off after their ally. Charmy handed the Sling Rings to Vector and Espio. Ray wrapped his tail around Mighty's arm. The five members turned to the Hooligans, showering them with glares.

"If you double-cross us," Espio threatened. "We _will_ come for you!"

"So I've heard," Nack grinned, loading his gun. "Let's go the save the freakin' world!"

The Chaotix and the Hooligans leaped off of the ship.

With Shadow in her hands, Rouge extended her wings and jumped out with Omega by her side. The destructive mech was already shooting at Marauders that had jetpacks on.

"YIPPIE-KAI-YAY! BLACK AND BLUE COLORED RESISTANCE!"

Blaze had her arms folded. Her eyes were closed.

Tails' voice came through the radio again.

" _Blaze, I'm going to put us on the West Coast! You'll have to fly to your target from here!"_

"Understood," Blaze nodded. She spoke to herself in her mind. _Don't think about the height, just think about the moment. You can do this. You can save the world._

With the power of the Sol Emeralds in her veins, Blaze leaped out of the ship with her eyes closed. She opened her arms outward, as the magic gemstones rotated around her. Their power eventually went inside of her, where she transformed into…

…Burning Blaze.

The pink-furred cat's flames ignited with fire, as she boosted forward and flew towards the island. Landing on the ground, she found herself surrounded by an army of Marauders. She opened her eyes and snapped her fingers, creating a ring of fire that defeated the soldiers. Suddenly, an army of Gizoid Centurions landed beside her and attacked her in all directions. But since she was in her super form, their punches meant nothing. Burning Blaze cracked her fingers and annihilated the robots.

Once she was done, she boosted upward and destroyed two of Nocturne's cannons.

Shadow Chaos Blasted a cannon, as Rouge and Omega defeated enemies from below.

Ray tossed Mighty into a Gizoid Centurion, where the armadillo wrecked it in a single punch.

Espio, Vector, and Charmy disarmed one cannon before they ambushed a group of soldiers.

Burning Blaze circled her teammates, helping them in combat. Everywhere she looked, enemies approached her and her friends. But since she had twice as much power as her normal state, taking them down was a cinch. She helped Shadow take down three sets of Gizoid Mk. 2 soldiers: stronger versions of its previous incarnation.

Team Hooligan drove around on the Marvelous Queen. Nack shot echidna soldiers with his popgun, Bark landed several blows on his enemies, and Bean was tossing bombs all over the place.

"This one's for you! This one's for you! This one's for your mother! And this one's for your sister!" the duck sang, as he watched his creations take care of the crowd. Bark grabbed Bean and pushed him to the right, smacking an incoming missile to the side.

* * *

In the damaged ship, Amy ran inside the Main Deck, where Tails was working on preparing a safe landing. She looked left and right, seeing scraps of the ship rain down.

"Tails, we gotta go!"

"I know, I know," Tails replied, typing on a digital screen. "I'm just putting in the final trajectory!"

It didn't take long for the fox to finish and he took off towards the door.

"Go, go, _go!_ " he hollered.

Tails and Amy met up with Team B and they all jumped out of the ship's back.

Within a matter of seconds…

 _ **KRAKOOM!**_

…the Restoration Shuttle exploded.

But Team B was perfectly fine. Tails grabbed onto Tangle's tail and flew her across the sky. The lemur mimicked a superhero's flight pose, as she laughed and cheered with joy. Whisper, who used the Hover Mode on her Wispon, carried Amy through the fight. Silver flew on his own. On the ground, Marauders were shooting at them with their blasters. A few of them activated their jetpacks and charged towards them.

"No, you don't!" Tangle cracked her fingers.

As soon as Team B landed on the ground, everyone entered the ring; Silver took out enemies with psychic waves and roundhouse kicks. Tangle formed a fist with her tail and thrashed upon her enemies. Amy and Tails formed a Rolling Combo and spun attacked into swarms of Marauders and Gizoids. Whisper took advantage of all her Wisp powers and assisted her friends in combat.

When the wave of enemies was decimated, Team B took off down the grassy road, entering the streets of Nocturne.

Tails whipped out his Miles Electric, tracking down the Chaos Emeralds. "All seven Emeralds are hidden in the city's core. They must be using them as extra power for the city."

"What about the Master Emerald?" Silver inquired.

"That's located in the back of Ix's citadel."

"Here's the plan, everyone!" Amy announced. "Silver, wreck stuff! Tangle, Whisper, cover Tails while he does something smart! We'll all rush forward and find the Chaos Emeralds!"

"Wait, did you just say while _I_ do something smart?" Tails chuckled, shrugging his shoulders. "What does that even mean?"

"I don't know! _You're_ the genius!"

"Ha-ha," Tangle laughed, glancing at Whisper. "You ready for this, Whisper? We're about to become part of a superhero-style climax!"

" _Whatever it takes,"_ Whisper nodded with a smile.

Team B bypassed through the hordes of enemies, making their way towards the citadel.

Silver had some concerns, as he looked up and saw Burning Blaze obliterate a whole cannon. "I hope Blaze is okay. I know she's afraid of heights. But I just hope she stays safe."

"Have faith, Silver," Tangle gave a thumbs up. "I may not have known her as much as you have, but she's awesome! She'll be fine!"

Tangle was suddenly shot in the back by a laser.

"Unlike me, I hope."

Silver defeated the soldiers that shot the lemur's back.

* * *

Speaking of Burning Blaze, she helped Team Dark climb on top of another cannon. With a Chaos Blast, Shadow fought off an invasion of Gizoids and fired Chaos Spears at Marauders. Flying around with his Air Shoes, Shadow met up with Rouge and the two of them circled around the Marvelous Queen, shooting projectiles and showing the army their brute strength. Bean tossed a few bombs before he looked over at Burning Blaze. Charmy flew next to the mercenaries with Espio and Vector in his hands. Mighty and Ray were fighting on the ground.

Shooting waves of fire, Burning Blaze looked over her shoulder. She watched a whole armada of jetpack wearing Marauders approach her. They aimed their weapons and hurtled projectiles of blue energy.

Dodging them all, Burning Blaze clapped her hands together, forming a massive fireball.

She also glared at a nearby cannon, figuring she could kill two birds with one stone.

 _I must finish my mission here._ Blaze spoke within her head. _I don't want to leave my friends for very long… heh, my friends. I've not had them in my life for long… but I'll do everything to keep them safe!_

That ray of fire was finally fired, destroying every single enemy in sight.

Bean gushed over the glowing fire. " _So,_ _ **SHINY!**_ Touch it, touch it! I must _touch it!_ "

Nack slapped the duck's head. "Focus, Bean!"

"Look out!" Charmy screamed.

A missile hit exploded next to the bee, causing him to drop Espio and Vector from his arms.

"Vector, Espio!" the bee screamed with utter fear.

Nack, Bean, and Bark gasped and kept riding through the skies. Nack looked down at the falling detectives and back at the road. He repeated this process a few times before he heavily steered the bike around. Divebombing downward, Nack slammed on the gas pedal and drove through an army of lasers and missiles.

Espio was about to save Vector and latch a roped Kunai to a wall, but he suddenly landed on a soft object.

He and Vector opened their eyes, noticing that they landed in Bark's arms.

Bean was on the polar bear's shoulders. "Welcome to Air Bark. Please keep all hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times."

"Wait?" Espio gasped. "Did you just save our lives?"

He and Vector cringed.

"Oh, gosh," Espio said again with agony.

"I think I'm gonna be _sick!_ " Vector cupped his hands over his mouth.

"Way ahead of you!" Charmy called from above. _**(2s)**_

* * *

As the battle waged on, Imperator Ix watched from the top of his citadel. Tightening his grip around his staff, he grunted and growled because his army was falling. He could send more soldiers out to destroy the Resistance, but he easily knew they'd get destroyed in an instant. The white-furred echidna stroked his chin.

Behind him was his creation: Synergy. He was looking at the Warp Topaz.

"Your friends are doing quite a bit of damage, Project: Synergy," said the leader. "They're starting to get on my nerves."

"I apologize for that, Master," Synergy kindly bowed. "Besides, they're not _my_ friends anymore."

"I don't care," Imperator Ix shook his head, slamming his staff against the floor. "I cannot afford to lose this battle. My return to Mobius needs to be flawless. I will not such a petty Resistance stop me… speaking of which, I sense that Knuckles, Shade, and Sonic are going after the Master Emerald. I have big plans for that gem… that's why I'm sending you on an important mission."

"Anything for you, Master," Synergy bowed. "What do you need?"

Imperator Ix chuckled. "Since you and the Resistance are no longer friends, I want you to take care of them for me. Show them who your loyalty belongs to."

Synergy was surprised to be assigned such a task, but without hesitation, he activated his jet boosters. "I will not fail you, Imperator Ix."

He flew out of the palace at the speed of light.

Imperator Ix folded his arms. "It's amazing how scrap metal like him can make this happen. But I do sense a bit of good in him; he _still_ has some kind of connection to the others… this could be a problem."

* * *

As Teams A and B resumed their roles, Team C had a challenging time through the battlefield. Even with the speed of Extreme Gear, the trio's progress was halted thanks to the Nocturnus militia. But with their combined strength, they were able to past through most of the army.

Homing attacking into a set of Marauders, Sonic boosted through them and leaped off a ramp. Performing multiple tricks in the air, Sonic stood on one hand, kicking a Gizoid in the chest. He jumped back on his board and rode against the wind.

Knuckles and Shade, sharing an Extreme Gear, punched and bashed multiple Marauders to the ground. The former almost fell off due to the many times she was thrown off balance, but she was lucky to have someone pulling her back up. She and her fellow echidna exchanged a nod before they caught up to Sonic.

"How far are we from the Master Emerald?" Shade inquired.

"We shouldn't be far," Knuckles replied. "It's at the back of the citadel."

"Looks like we're gonna have to either go over or around it," Sonic chimed in. "I'm cool with either way. Just as long as I get to knock Ix's teeth in!"

The riders flew over a waterfall of lava that poured from the citadel's top. They drove around a pathway, making their way to the other side.

"Watch yourself, Sonic," Shade said. "You _did_ defeat Ix in the past, but what if he _has_ gotten stronger? We cannot underestimate him. I know I said that we can beat him again, but I'm going to fight smart. Luckily, I know his weak points. So, follow my lead and-Knuckles, Sonic, look out!"

A loud slam caused the riders to fall off of their hoverboards.

Fortunately, they landed on their feet and their boards fell on the floor.

Sonic, Shade, and Knuckles wiped away the smoke from the crater and they saw the shadow of the culprit standing not too far. The shadow revealed himself to be Synergy. He slowly got up and clenched his fists.

"Look who it is," Sonic grinned, wiping his nose. "The man with a major identity crisis. You're a bad guy, then a good guy, then a bad guy again. You really need to get your priorities in order."

"What I _need_ to do is get you off my island," Synergy replied. "You won't stop Imperator Ix's plans!"

"Synergy, we don't wish to harm you," Knuckles said calmly. "This isn't who you are. Look, I'm not sure what Eggman showed you-"

"He showed me the truth. All Imperator Ix wanted to do was return to this world through means of peace. But you had to stop him! Why stop a man who just wanted to bring peace!?"

"Ix isn't a man of peace," Shade retorted softly. "He's a ruthless dictator who doesn't care _who_ he steps on. He couldn't care about anything else other than himself. Dr. Eggman tricked you into believing we were the bad guys and that Ix was the good guy. But if you'd let me explain, I can-"

"You have a lot of gall betraying our clan, Shade. I'm very disappointed in you."

"I left the clan because I thought Ix wanted to bring peace to Mobius, but I found out he wanted to start a war. I wasn't going to involve myself in that."

"You dare lie to me along with these so-called friends? They've corrupted you as much as they did with me!"

"Synergy, look!" Sonic entered the conversation. "If we grade-A jerks, would we have taken you around the world? Don't deny it, you loved what you saw! You learned to read, you helped Knuckles chase a dumpling, and you crafted a picture frame for Whisper! Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

Synergy was frozen. He unclenched his fist for a bit before he got down into a battle position. "That was before I found out the cold, hard truth. The truth that you're no different than Dr. Eggman! Yes, he did expose the truth, but he was involved in that incident just as much as you were! I'm not going to forget that!"

"Don't do this, Synergy," Knuckles said. "We don't want to hurt you."

"Then that will make this fight easier." _**(3)**_

Without shillyshallying, Synergy boosted towards the trio and slammed his claws against the ground, hitting them with ease. But at the last second, all three heroes evaded to the sides. Sonic curled into a ball and homed in on the Gizoid's head, smacking him around like a rag doll. At the last hit, Synergy caught Sonic and chucked him into the echidnas.

Both warriors jumped over the blue hero and trashed upon the Gizoid. Punches, kicks, jabs, volley kicks, and other blows were landed on the robot as well as the echidnas. Synergy began to panic. He thought he'd be strong enough to take down both of them, but since the echidnas were ambushing him at the same time, it was difficult for him to land a solid hit. Thankfully, he was able to break them up by igniting a Chaos Blast. Knuckles and Shade rolled across the dirt. Sonic cracked his fingers and ran over. He and Synergy fought the same way the latter did with the echidnas until the two of them curled into spin balls. They took to the skies, homing attacking each other at the speed of sound.

As they were distracted, Knuckles and Shade jumped up and ran down the pathway, where they hoped to make it to the Master Emerald.

But out of the blue, Synergy halted them.

"Whoa! Where do you two think you're going?" the Gizoid taunted.

Shade tossed a grenade in Synergy's face, blinding his sight.

As Synergy wiped the smoke away, he was greeted to a double-fisted uppercut from both Knuckles and Shade.

Sonic performed a front-flip and kicked Synergy, slamming him against the ground.

"C'mon, Synergy," Sonic landed beside him. "This isn't what G-merl, Cream, and Big would want, would it?"

"Who cares about their opinions!?" Synergy trapped Sonic in the clutches of his claws. "They're just as bad as you are! Speaking of which, where are they? I'd like to share a few words with them if you know what I mean!"

Knuckles and Shade tackled the robot.

Sonic fell to the ground, watching his friends and the robot fight.

Shade activated her Leech Blades and landed a few scratches. "Listen to me, Synergy! Imperator Ix seems nice at first, but he showed me his true colors! I made the mistake of taking the Master Emerald from Knuckles, only to find out that Ix wanted to use it for evil! He told me he wanted it to bring back our clan, but he just wanted world domination!"

Synergy slashed at Shade; she dodged.

"I may not have witnessed your world adventure," Shade continued. "But from what I've been told, you had a wonderful time. You met new people, you learned about different cultures, you even played music for the first time. That's not something Ix would teach you, would it?"

Synergy stopped fighting, looking to the right. But he grunted, shaking his head.

"No, no! Do _not_ try to change me!"

"Don't deny all the fun you had," Shade said again. "You have friends on the battlefield who are here to rescue you. They know this isn't the real you. They _know_ you're not acting like yourself. They're here for you, but you-"

" _ **BE QUIET!**_ " Synergy punched Shade in the stomach.

Knuckles caught Shade, as Sonic performed an Axe kick across Synergy's face.

Putting Shade down, Knuckles said, "So, peace talking him isn't working. Is there a way we can shut him down?"

"Yes, there is," Shade replied, watching Sonic and Synergy brawl. "When G-merl first came to Windmill Village, he glitched out and I shut him down. If I can get close enough to Synergy, I can turn him off."

"What about rebooting him? Maybe that will change him back to a good guy?"

"No, it won't. That will just set him to default mode. If we want to get to the Master Emerald, we _have_ to shut him down."

"You're the Boss," Knuckles smiled. "What's the plan?"

"Follow my lead!"

Shade and Knuckles watched as Sonic landed on his rear. They rushed over to him and whispered a plan. He nodded and gave a thumbs up. Synergy snarled at them and boosted forward. The three heroes did the same.

Sonic jumped into the air and tucked into a ball.

Knuckles cupped his hands together and ascended Shade into the air, where the orange echidna grabbed Sonic, spun him around, and chucked him into Synergy's stomach. When Sonic came back, he untucked and grabbed Shade by her hand. He spun her around and slammed her into Synergy. She tackled him and pinned him against the dirt. Sonic and Knuckles rushed forward, holding down his arms. Shade sat on the Gizoid's back.

"Get off me!" the robot demanded.

"I'm sorry, Synergy," Shade humbly apologized, as she went to press his off switch…

…but at the last moment.

Synergy shouted, " _Chaos Blast!_ " _**(3s)**_

A ball of orange energy forced the three heroes off of him. They all flew backward and rolled across the ground, hitting a pile of debris from behind. Then, they laid on their backs, covered in dirt and bruises.

"Oh, yeah, just shut him down," Sonic moaned sarcastically. "Nice plan, Shade."

"Oh, shut up," Shade grumbled. "I didn't see _you_ coming up with any ideas."

"Hey, guys," Knuckles leaned up and pointed. "Did that Chaos Blast knock him out? I don't see Synergy anywhere."

The other two heroes looked and saw that Synergy was gone.

"Where'd he run off to?" Sonic shrugged. "Hopefully he's not on the battlefield with the others."

Suddenly, a streak of water ran across Shade's leg. She looked down and observed it flowing behind her. She followed the trail until it showed her the source. "Um, guys?"

Sonic and Knuckles turned around, following Shade's eyes.

Synergy transformed into his Chaos Emulation. He roared at the highest pitch and showed off his massive fangs.

Everyone got into battle positions.

"Crap," Sonic mumbled. "Here we go again."

* * *

On Shrine Isle, Imperator Ix sat by the Master Emerald.

Looking up, he saw several explosions in the sky. He didn't know how the battle was going. Only one thing was on his mind: facing Knuckles and Shade once again. He faced them before, but Sonic and Tails interrupted their battle and took over. He was disappointed that he didn't get to fight the two echidnas for long, but he hoped he'd get to do it again. Of course, he wouldn't have minded if Sonic was with them since he had a personal vendetta against him.

But in the meantime, he sat by the magic gemstone.

"Knuckles, Shade, Sonic… your petty Resistance may be winning, but soon… you'll face your doom."

 _ **END OF CHAPTER 34**_

* * *

 _The Battle of Angel Nocturne has finally started and things the Resistance is meeting mixed results. Team A, thanks to Burning Blaze, is able to take down half of the city's defenses. Team B managed to get close to the citadel itself, but Team C was apprehended by Synergy. Meanwhile, Imperator Ix stands by the Master Emerald, waiting for his opponents to come. Who will get to the Master Emerald in time? Can the Resistance keep up the momentum or will this plan fall flat on their faces? Find out as the final battle continues in..._

 _"Chapter 35: Angel Nocturne: Part 2"_

* * *

 ** _POST-A/N:_**

 _Obviously, IDW Sonic Issue #9 inspired the fact that Burning Blaze is here in the fight. Of course, her role in the fight is different. In the actual comic, she's on her own, but in this one, she's with other members of the Resistance. Originally, she was going to be by herself, but that would mean Team B would be bigger. Since I wanted everyone in the Resistance a role in the story, I decided to have Burning Blaze work with the Chaotix, Team Dark, and Team Hooligan. Speaking of which, I think Team Hooligan may be having fun with this hero thing._

 _I might have said this in an earlier chapter or in a Post-A/N from Sonic Heroes: The Atom Bomb, but I am not happy with the way Shadow has been treated in some of the comics and the games. Granted, I can't blame the IDW team since they're forced to follow strict SEGA Mandates (which explains why Mighty, Ray, and the Hooligans cannot appear in the comics), but I think SEGA doesn't remember what made Shadow likeable. He's not just some brooding edge lord, he's a more calm, mature version of Sonic. That's why I decided to have Shadow pay his respects to the Diamond Cutters and tell Whisper that he's there if she needs to talk to someone._

 _Something I find funny is that G-merl and Cream appear on Cover RI on IDW Sonic Issue #9, but they don't appear in the issue itself. They don't show up until IDW Sonic Issue #18, but I always found it funny how they show up on one cover and don't appear in said issue. But hey, at least we got some cool artwork out of it. :)_

 _As always, thank you all so much for reading! Don't forget to R &R! I'm The Sensational SpiderDom321 and I'll see you all next time :)_

 _~SD321 (SpiderDom321)_


	35. Angel Nocturne: Part 2

_**A/N:** Hello, everyone. So at this point in time, Awakened Chapter 39 has been pre-written and shall be sent over to my co-writer Infinite's Ruby in the far future. Only one chapter left to pre-write before editing time. Now that we're **35 chapters** into the story, I want to thank everyone for over **150 reviews** on Awakened. My highest reviewed story so far on Fanfiction. Thank you all so much for all of the love and support you've given to the story, especially TGN, SharpDragonKlaw, Infinite's Ruby, and TheLostEternity. You four have been really awesome and I want to thank each and every one of you! :) _

_Last time we left off, the final battle began on Angel Nocturne. The Resistance split into teams with Team C (Sonic, Knuckles, and Shade) confronting Synergy. But their battle took a turn once Synergy went into his Chaos Emulation. Can they survive his rage or will they fall by his hand? Find out!_

 ** _Suggested Music:_**

 ** _(1) For True Story (Sonic vs Shadow) - Sonic Adventure 2 OST_**

 ** _(2) Mysterio (Noir) - Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions OST_**

 ** _(3) Crisis City (Modern) - Sonic Generations OST_**

 ** _(4) Crisis City (Classic) - Sonic Generations OST_**

 ** _(5) Stuff We Did - Disney/Pixar's Up OST_**

 _Without further ado, enjoy the show!_

* * *

 **Angel Nocturne: Part 2**

As the battle raged on, all seven members of the Eggman Empire sat inside the dungeon. Rough and Tumble were playing rock, paper, scissors with Orbot and Cubot. The white skunk kept picking rock whereas the yellow cube-shaped robot kept picking paper. Tumble snarled, as he challenged Cubot again. He got another rock.

"Dang it!" Tumble snarled.

"It's okay, Bro," Rough said. "You got this."

"Um, am I playing this game, right?" Cubot whispered to his friend, who was drinking from a cup of coffee.

"Honestly, Cubot," Orbot replied. "I don't care at this point."

Meanwhile, Dr. Starline did nothing but play a tune on the harmonica. Honestly, he wasn't very good at playing a musical instrument, but he had to keep himself occupied somehow. But the music was serenading his boss, Dr. Eggman. The fat doctor sat against the neon bars, grunting and growling. Wishing that he could have done something to prevent Synergy from doing this. If this didn't happen, he'd be conquering the world with an army of Gizoids. But instead, he had to sit in jail, listening to Dr. Starline's original soundtrack.

Speaking of which, he had enough.

"Will you stop playing that garbage!?" he shouted. "It's smooth harmony is getting on my nerves!"

Dr. Starline did as he was told.

"Where'd you get that anyway?"

"I'm not sure, My Lord," the platypus tossed the instrument over his shoulder. "Any luck getting us out of here?"

"I should be asking you the same thing! You know this is all your fault!"

" _My_ fault!? How is this _my_ fault!?"

"If you hadn't raided Resistance HQ without my consent, we would've had more time to prepare our attack! We rushed in with our elemental army and we were easily defeated! If Alpha was stronger, the Resistance would've been distracted enough so we can reprogram Synergy!"

"Don't put all of this on me! _You're_ the one who tricked Synergy into thinking the Nocturnus Clan were the good guys! You just _had_ to show him that stupid video!"

"All right, all right! So, we've made mistakes, big deal! Let's focus on getting out of here!"

"Switching topics just like that, eh? I think I just realized something about you, Doctor."

"What would that be?"

"You're a loon."

"I'm crazy!? I'll show _you_ crazy!"

Metal Sonic stood between the platypus and his creator. "With all due respect, Doctor. Destroying Starline won't do anything."

"Speaking of destroying," Dr. Starline adjusted his glasses. "Can't you break down these bars, Metal Sonic? You _do_ have enough power to do so."

"He already tried," Dr. Eggman scoffed. "Nothing's working. These jokers have technology far more advanced than robots that even _I_ can hope to create!"

Both supervillains let out a low sigh.

"There's got to be some way to get out of here," Dr. Starline wrapped his fingers around the bars. "I need to get that Warp Topaz from Synergy."

"Speaking of that Gizoid," Dr. Eggman folded his arms. "If the Resistance gets here… I hope they give him a beating." _**(1)**_

* * *

Sonic, Shade, and Knuckles were left against a Chaos Emulated Synergy. The hydrokinetic monster roared loudly and extended his claws.

"Ready for round two?" the monster grunted with a chuckle. "Come on, step right up!"

Sonic smirked, rubbing his nose. "Fighting in your Chaos form. That doesn't seem fair, eh, Synergy?"

Knuckles clapped his fists together. "Come on, Synergy! This is getting ridiculous! You know this is wrong!"

"This is your last chance to stop!" Shade warned. "Think of all the people Ix will hurt if you don't help us stop him! He doesn't care about the people here! He wants to kill them, destroy their land, and rebuild it in his own image! Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

Synergy heavily grinned, showing off his teeth. "Such a disappointing choice of last words."

Pouncing forward, the Gizoid slammed the ground and a tsunami of water pushed forward. Sonic, Shade, and Knuckles jumped over the water and ran to the side. They fired a few blows against the Gizoid before they were smacked across the ground.

Shade tossed a grenade forward and blinded Synergy with smoke. She suddenly used her Warp Belt to teleport on top of the monster's shoulder. Trying to reach for his back compartment, she was grabbed and yanked off of him. Thankfully, the orange echidna landed on her feet, thrashing upon the Gizoid. Knuckles and Sonic jumped into the fight. Everyone was brawling until Synergy splashed the trio with a powerful tsunami.

Both echidnas and the hedgehog landed on the ground.

"Okay, new plan," Sonic announced. "Knux, Shade, you guys go find the Master Emerald! I'll keep him busy!"

"Are you nuts!?" Knuckles asked with concern. "He'll crush you!"

"If he catches me first!"

Instantaneously, Synergy transformed back to normal, appearing in front of the heroes. " _If?_ "

Synergy grabbed Sonic and Knuckles, as he dug them into the ground. He deflected Shade's attacks and blasted her in the stomach with a Chaos Blast. He grabbed Sonic and Knuckles, bashing their heads into one another. Then, he transformed into his Knuckles Emulation and struck several jabs on his enemies.

The three heroes laid on their sides, bruised and beaten.

"I thought you were going to distract him," Knuckles moaned, nudging the hedgehog.

"I'm just getting warmed up," Sonic grinned.

"Same here," Shade nodded. _I just hope everyone else is okay down there._

* * *

Team A was almost done destroying the city's defenses thanks to Burning Blaze.

The pink-furred cat flew around and showed off her pyrokinesis, burning enemy weapons to ash and effortlessly defeating Marauders from the left and right. However, as she kept fighting, she could feel the Sol Emeralds' power weakening. She only had a few minutes before she changed back to normal. There were still more cannons to destroy, so she needed to work fast. But she was thankful that she had Team Dark, Team Chaotix, and Team Hooligan fighting alongside her.

Clapping her hands, she shot a burst of flames at an army of Gizoid Centurions.

 _I need to work fast,_ she spoke to herself. _Who knows how long I have until I change back?_

Shadow jumped on the wall and jabbed a Chaos Spear through it. He descended the wall, leaving massive scrapes against it with his spear. The ebony agent shot other spears at flying soldiers but was suddenly shot down by a missile.

Before he could teleport to safety, Omega caught him with one hand. As he held Shadow, he smacked, bashed, and slashed many enemies. Missiles popped out of his shoulders and rockets fired from his wrists.

"Thanks, Omega," the black hedgehog jumped off the robot.

"BE CAREFUL NEXT TIME, SHADOW. I PROBABLY WON'T BE THERE NEXT TIME."

"Yeah, thanks for the tip."

Rouge regrouped with her team. "Hey, boys. You doing okay?"

Shadow blocked a Marauder's punch and kicked him without even looking at him. "Somewhat. Our progress doesn't seem to mean anything. They just keep popping out defenses."

"DEFENSES THAT I SHALL DESTROY!" Omega chanted.

Espio threw a dagger at Gizoid's head before he rapidly kicked several soldiers.

Vector bit a Gizoid's arm off and smashed the ground, attacking multiple Gizoids. He took another bite of spicy bubblegum and coughed a ball of fire at his enemies.

Charmy and Ray took to the skies, kicking everyone they saw.

And Mighty was showing off his strength.

A few Marauders tasered him with electric gauntlets, but the armadillo handled the pain and grabbed their hands. "You know, I'm normally against violence, but people like you make me forget I'm a pacifist!"

With a heavy punch, Mighty sent the soldiers flying.

He watched Team Hooligan ride on the Marvelous Queen, as he met up with his team.

"It's weird seeing the Hooligans do some good for us," he said. "Makes me miss the days where Ray and I used to throw them in jail for stealing stuff."

"Don't get used to it," Vector replied. "They'll stab us in the back the second they get the chance."

"I don't know, Vec. There might be a possibility for them to change."

"Are you out of your mind, Mighty?" the crocodile laughed. So did the bee. "Nack, Bean, and Bark changing their ways is like saying the Deadly Six are _good_ bad guys!"

"But d-d-didn't they s-s-s-save y-you and Espio?" Ray chuckled.

"That was just us getting lucky," Espio answered.

"Yeah! That doesn't mean squat!" Charmy retorted.

Mighty and Ray shared a laugh.

Above them, Burning Blaze saw the remaining cannons in her sight; there were five of them. Standing by the cannons was a horde of Marauders that opened fire. Due to her invulnerability, Burning Blaze resisted the projectiles. With her eyes closed, she focused all of her power into a final attack.

Team Chaotix climbed up on a wall, seeing the cat from below.

They planned to help her out, but she shouted at them, "Stay there!"

Everyone stopped.

Burning Blaze pressed her hands together, charging up a ball of flames, taking a deep breath. _I cannot be harmed in this form, but I can only maintain it for so long. But I'm running out of time. I need to finish my part of the plan,_ _ **now!**_

"I must be careful not to harm Angel Island!" Burning Blaze shouted, as her fireball finished charging and she opened her eyes. With her gold-colored eyes staring deep into the Marauders' souls, she aimed her palms at all the cannons and incinerated them within an instant. Team Chaotix shielded their eyes from the bright light, as Burning Blaze unleashed her fiery fury upon the Nocturnus Clan.

It didn't take long for the city's defenses to be fully destroyed and every soldier there made a tactical retreat.

Burning Blaze landed on the ground, reverting back to her normal self. _**(1s)**_

The Chaotix regrouped with her. Blaze nearly fainted into Espio's arms.

"Blaze, are you all right?" Espio inquired.

"That was incredible!" Charmy swung his fist.

"Ha-ha, t-thank you," Blaze coughed, exhausted. "It is done… and so am I-"

"Guys!" Ray pointed forward.

A Marauder had a rocket launcher in his hands. He fired a massive rocket at the team.

"Look out!" Blaze shoved everyone out of the way. Before she can move, the rocket impacted the ground and broke it in half. Blaze, who stood on the broken half, fell off.

"Blaze!" Espio shouted, as he leaped down, grabbed her, and swung his roped kunai upward. He hoped it would wrap around a ledge, but it didn't. Instead, Vector and Mighty grabbed the rope and grabbed a pole on the side. Ray and Charmy gasped and swung down to catch them. But as Espio and Blaze hung on, the rope was slowly ripping.

"Seriously?" Espio moaned. "That online seller told me this was a sturdy rope.

The rope ripped and the duo fell to the ground.

Charmy and Ray raced to catch them, when suddenly…

…Bark jumped forward and caught the two in his furry arms. Bean stood on his shoulders again, tossing a bomb over his shoulder.

"Hey! Welcome back to Air Bean, how're you guys doing? Listen, Little Miss Flaming Lilac, I gotta say, that was _awesome!_ The way you shot that shiny fireball was amazing and you made all the soldiers go, _'ah! Runaway! She's gonna get us! Protect the yarn!'_ That was just incredible! I got the whole thing on video! Give me your phone number and I'll send it to you!"

Blaze shared an awkward glance with Espio.

"Ha, saving someone twice in one day?" Nack smiled. "Perhaps we can make money off this sort of thing. It's not so bad after all."

Vector and Charmy were dumbfounded.

Mighty laughed. "Well, Whaddya know?"

"I-I can't believe it," Vector gasped. "The Hooligans just saved someone… _twice!_ "

"Does this mean they're gonna become good guys?" Charmy gulped.

The crocodile turned to the bee. "If so… _God help us._ " _**(2)**_

* * *

"Shade, on your left!" Sonic yelled.

"Whoa!" Shade howled, as Synergy swatted at her from the direction that was said. Shade fired an uppercut, as Knuckles tackled the Gizoid and kicked him towards Sonic. The Blue Blur roundhouse kicked the Gizoid and bashed him against the wall.

Synergy spin dashed down the lane and Sonic countered by mimicking his movements. The two of them shot through the air like airplanes before they broke out of their forms. Sonic pounced on Synergy and began punching from the left and right. One final uppercut caused the blue hedgehog to jump off. The blue/green Gizoid crashed into a wall. He fell on his stomach, where he was surrounded by a pile of debris.

"That should do some damage," Shade wiped her lip.

"Y'know," Sonic began. "He has the Warp Topaz on him. I'm surprised he hasn't used it yet."

Synergy's eyes widened when he heard that. "Oh, yeah. I forgot I had this thing."

A wormhole appeared below Sonic and Shade's feet. The two of them fell in and reappeared behind the robot, where he socked them in their jaws. Knuckles punched Synergy in the chest and helped up his friends.

"You just _had_ to say something, didn't you, Sonic?" the echidna mumbled.

Sonic coughed. "Sue me… okay, I've had enough of this. Knuckles, you and Shade go find the Master Emerald. I'll distract him."

"We already tried that plan," Shade retorted. "It didn't work."

"That's because we were too slow," Sonic replied. "On my signal, make a run for it!"

"How will we know your signal?"

"Trust me, Shade. You'll see."

Synergy cracked his fingers and clenched his fist; the Warp Topaz was glowing. The Chaos hybrid shot himself forward. Sonic stretched his neck and ran faster than the Gizoid. He jumped on his back and covered his eyes with his right hand.

"Hey! What are you doing!?" Synergy yawped.

"Just trying to work this fancy jewel of yours," Sonic snickered. He punched the topaz and created a portal. Kicking Synergy through it, he curled into a ball and ran through. It disappeared as soon as he did. _**(2s)**_

Knuckles and Shade froze.

"Guess that was the signal," Shade coughed.

"Looks like it," Knuckles grabbed both he and Sonic's Extreme Gear. He tossed the blue one to his ally. "Here, take Sonic's Extreme Gear and let's go. We're running out of time… but real quick, are you going to be okay facing Ix again? We haven't done it in a long time. Are you sure you're up for this?"

"I appreciate you looking out for me," Shade replied with a smile. "But as I said on the ship, I'm done running from my past. Let's do it to it."

Knuckles mirrored her gesture. "Right."

The two took off. _**(3)**_

* * *

A wormhole opened and Sonic leaped outside it along with Synergy. The two of them landed in the middle of the forest on Angel Island. The night was still upon them and for once, they were surrounded by nature. The Gizoid tumbled against the grass until he hit his head on a rock, breaking it in half. Sonic skidded across the ground, glaring at the Gizoid.

Synergy awoke and clenched his gloved hand.

"C'mon, Synergy," Sonic rubbed his nose. "Haven't you had enough of this?"

Synergy wasn't in the mood for games. Instead, he shot six Chaos Spears at the blue hedgehog.

With swift reflexes, Sonic avoided all of them when he landed on a tree branch. "Guess not."

Synergy began to chase after Sonic; the Blue Blur took off down the forest, talking to himself.

 _Knuckles and Shade are heading to the Master Emerald just like I planned it. Nice! All I need to do is distract Synergy long enough until Nocturne and Angel Island are separated. But how am I gonna get close to him while he has the Warp Topaz?_

Synergy created a wormhole below Sonic's feet, but the latter leaped over it, running down the pathway.

 _Guess I'll do what I did before; use the Warp Topaz to my advantage. Say, using the Warp Topaz for my own use is gonna be fun! Let's do it!_

Jumping on top of a tree, the hedgehog swung at a rapid speed and launched his body, feet first, at the robot. Like before, he jumped on top of Synergy's back, throwing nothing but punches across his face. Synergy attempted to make a wormhole with hopes of shooing the hedgehog away, but Sonic smacked the gemstone and created his own portal. He covered Synergy's eyes and drove himself and the robot into the wormhole.

The two of the wound up in Marble Garden Zone.

When the portal closed, Sonic smacked Synergy once more before he leaped off of him. When his sight returned to him, Synergy moved to the right, almost hitting a nearby structure.

Looking to the left and right, he noticed Sonic running down a grassy lane.

Synergy grunted and chased after him, firing a mixture of Chaos Spears, Chaos Blasts, and other weapons in his inventory, missiles, and rockets. As explosions rained down like a hurricane, Sonic evaded each and every one of them, smirking and chuckling.

As his chuckle turned into a laugh, he avoided pillars that were crushing the ground, as he leaped onto a platform and made his way up a hill. Synergy clenched his fist, fired a missile, and created a portal with the Warp Topaz. Sonic grabbed the missile and jumped on top of it.

"Whooo hooo!" he shouted, waving his fist back and forth.

"What the?" Synergy widened his eyes.

Sonic rode the missile like a pilot flying a jet plane, aiming the missile at Synergy. The blue hedgehog grinned once more before he jumped off at the last second.

 _ **KABOOM!**_

The missile exploded in Synergy's face.

As the robot free fell, Sonic boosted towards the Gizoid and tapped the Warp Topaz. With another portal created, the quarreling duo barged into IceCap Zone. Attempting to land on his feet, Sonic wound up tripping on ice and he began tumbling down a mountain. Synergy did the same; however, he was able to gain his balance and slide down on his rear.

He glared to his right, watching his opponent bumble around like a clumsy oaf.

Activating the Warp Topaz, Synergy formed a wormhole below part of the mountain.

Unfortunately for him, Sonic recovered and started gliding down on his back.

Startling at the portal, he slid past it.

Synergy's eyes extended and he grunted. "Why you little!"

Ascending off the mountain, Synergy flew over at an expeditious rate. Reaching his hands out, he planned to grab the hedgehog and strangle him, but to his disappointment, Sonic ducked below him and continued riding the mountain like a waterslide. Throughout the journey down, the Blue Blur kept ducking beneath Synergy's attacks. Once in a while, he would fire a kick or a punch if he got lucky. Sonic drifted to the right with hopes of gaining more speed.

"I hope I don't get frostbite doing this!" Sonic shouted to himself.

As he and Synergy kept fighting, an obstacle suddenly came up ahead: it was a blue and orange snowboard.

"How convenient," Sonic chuckled, as he jumped forward and grabbed the snowboard. Quickly stamping his feet through the straps, the snowboard landed against the snow and he was cruising down the mountain with ease. "Whoo-hoo! Come on, Synergy! You did this with Tangle and Whisper!"

"Actually, we rode a bobsled!" Synergy retorted, shooting projectiles at the hero.

Sonic evaded the missiles. "Funny, you wouldn't remember that unless if you still cared."

The Gizoid froze, reframing from attacking. _**(3s)**_

"Come on, Synergy," Sonic continued. "I know this isn't you. Egghead messed with you. I know you and I didn't get along before, but after seeing you grow, I realize that you and I _can_ become good friends… just like Tails, G-merl, Amy, Knuckles, and everyone else who's my friend… heh, it's funny. As we were taking you around the world, your character growth reminded me of Emerl. Back when I first met him, he was a generic robot. When I hung out with him, he became one of my closest friends… and he still is."

"Emerl is not the Gizoid he once was," Synergy replied. "You made him _soft!_ "

"Define soft."

"You made him weak!"

"Having a family makes you weak? That's funny. Imperator Ix feels that way."

Synergy froze again.

Sonic smiled. "Synergy, you know that you're better than this. You know you enjoyed those past three days. I know I sound like a broken record, but you had so much fun with everyone and he treated everyone with kindness. On my way here, Whisper just told me that she will never forget that you made her that frame and that she prays you'll see the error of your ways. That speech you made in the Mineral Museum, the one where you said you don't want to go back to being a generic war machine, showed me that you realized you're more than just a useless pawn by Ix's side… you can be free. Free to go wherever your heart takes you. Free like the wind… you can be like G-merl and Omega, free-spirited heroes who have the right to be whoever they want to be."

Synergy looked down at the ground. He and Sonic were still riding down the mountain. He knew that Sonic was right on all of those things. Memories of the past three days swarmed his head; however, they were overshadowed by the flashbacks of the video Dr. Eggman showed him. Shaking his head, he rubbed his head fin and clenched his fist, admiring the Warp Topaz's red and black glow.

The Chaos hybrid turned to the blue hedgehog. "I'm sorry, Sonic… but I will do what I _must!_ " _**(4)**_

Halting his flight, Synergy levitated and turned around, clapping his hands together. "Chaos Blast!"

A tsunami of Chaos energy impacted the mountain, creating a loud rumble.

Sonic nearly tripped off his snowboard before he caught himself.

But sadly, he was greeted to something that could potentially ruin his plan. An avalanche started. Piles of snow came down from the mountaintop. With his emerald green eyes popping out of his sockets, Sonic picked up the pace by kicking the ground, praying to the Mobian Gods he'd go faster.

Bu Synergy kept shooting Chaos Spears and energy blasts from his palms, throwing the hedgehog off balance.

Sonic slid down the mountain until he snowboard was quickly destroyed, but instead of falling on the snow, Sonic homing attacked Synergy, grabbing his shoulders again. Landing multiple blows once again, Sonic kicked the Warp Topaz to the left and caused another portal to open.

He and Synergy fell inside, and a blanket of snow fell on top of the portal.

Then suddenly, the two of them flew around Lava Reef Zone.

Unlike IceCap Zone, the temperature in this area felt like it was over two-hundred degrees, but Sonic couldn't care about that. All he wanted to do was distract Synergy, so his friends can fend off the invasion. With more punches, jabs, and whacks landed, Sonic thrashed upon the Gizoid until he was pushed off of him. Almost falling into the lava, Sonic grabbed onto Synergy's leg and tucked his own legs inward, preventing himself from being burned.

Pulling himself onto Synergy's back, he continued his "peaceful" talk.

"I'm not giving up on you, Synergy!"

"You don't get it, do you?"

Synergy blasted the hedgehog against a rocky wall. "I'm nothing like Emerl! I can't change like he did! He chose his allegiance, I chose mine! The Nocturnus Clan is _my_ family!"

Sonic got back up and ran down a road full of boulders. "You're kidding, right? Have the Nocturnus Clan done anything _nice_ for you?"

"They created me!"

"Okay, fair point. But did they take you around the world like we did? I thought Gizoids only had one function back then, shoot enemies of Nocturne! When I was in the Twilight Cage, Shade told me that Gizoids were treated like robots. Nothing else!"

Synergy and Sonic boosted towards each other; homing attacking off one another.

"You keep acting like the Marauders are your friends, they're not!" Sonic continued his ramble. "They don't care about you! All you are to them is a _weapon!_ "

Synergy clenched his fist and fired missiles. " _SHUT UP!_ "

Sonic evaded all of the missiles before he was hit by one in front of him. But when he tumbled against the dirt, he swiftly recovered and socked Synergy in the jaw. He repeated this attack four more times before he spin dashed into the Gizoid's stomach. Synergy grabbed the blue ball, dribbled him like a basketball, and slammed him into the ground.

"Give up, Sonic! You can't win this!"

Sonic coughed. "That's something you should know about me, Synergy… I _never_ give up!"

Synergy howled at the highest pitch and accelerated forward.

Wiping his lip, Sonic ran in the same direction.

The two combatants resumed their scuffle. _**(4s)**_

* * *

On the surface of Green Hill, G-merl sat on the same ledge for an interminable amount of time. He hasn't made a move since he took a seat. His eyes were closed, and his hands were cupped together. The Gizoid pondered his thoughts, wondering how he could apologize to his family for what he's done. What he did seemed unforgivable, but part of him thought that if he explained what happened, everything would be okay. The optimist inside him said that, but the pessimist said otherwise. The other half was scolding him for hurting Cream and her friends, saying that she'll never forgive him so long as he still stands. As both halves of the Gizoid's emotions debated, the robot himself felt utter sorrow.

How _could_ you forgive someone for hurting you? Would they understand that it wasn't your fault, or would they only remember the fact that you tried to hurt them?

With all of these questions rambling through his mind, G-merl couldn't hear a car pull up behind him. But his focus came back once he heard the sound of footsteps.

 _Must be G.U.N. Troops here to arrest me for helping Synergy,_ he said to himself. He opened his eyes and turned around. "Look, Officers. There's no need to shoot, I'm-" _**(5)**_

He paused mid-sentence to find that no G.U.N. soldiers were in sight. Instead, Cream, Big, Vanilla, Cheese, Chocola, and Froggy stood behind him. The two rabbits, the two Chao, and the cat had warm smiles on their faces.

"Cream? Big? Vanilla? Cheese? Chocola?... Froggy's here too?" G-merl inquired.

"Ribbit, ribbit," said the frog.

"Hi, G-merl," Cream spoke softly, waving.

The black/yellow Gizoid got up from his seat, slowly backing away. "Please, stay back, guys. I don't want to hurt you again."

"G-merl, dear," Vanilla said. "I heard about what happened."

"I know, Ma'am. I heard your message… how can you be so forgiving?"

"Pardon?"

"I nearly killed your daughter! If I were you, I would throw me out or turn me into scraps or something. How could you forgive me so easily?"

"Because Cream told me what happened. She told me that Synergy was corrupted by Eggman's terrorism. He used his power to corrupt you. You had no control over yourself; therefore, it wasn't your fault. Yes, you did hurt Cream. But it wasn't _you_."

"…That doesn't make any sense."

"What Mother means to say is," Cream entered the talk. "You _did_ hurt me, but it wasn't the _real_ you. I know you would never hurt me. You're better than that. That's why I'm not angry. None of us are."

"But you _should_ be angry," the Gizoid retorted tenderly, pacing back and forth. "Whether I was mind-controlled or not, that was me! _I_ went berserk, _I_ attacked everyone I know and love, _I_ … _I_ …" The Gizoid stopped his slightly aggressive rant and looked down. His eyes were partly closed. "I violated my programming. Tails rebuilt me to protect you and your family, which includes your mother, Cheese, Chocola, and everyone you know… I know I didn't have access to my Emerl chip, but I didn't have the willpower to stop myself. _That's_ what makes me feel guilty! Speaking of Emerl, I wish I was him again… I know for a fact he wouldn't do what I just did."

Everyone was silent when they heard that.

"Please, just go away, everyone," G-merl said gently, taking back his seat. "I don't want you in the presence of a monster."

Vanilla, Cream, and Big shared a glance before all three of them approached the platform. Watching the moonlight from above, everyone took a seat beside the Gizoid. G-merl looked up. He was annoyed that they didn't listen to him, but at the same time, he was thankful he wasn't alone. Closing his eyes once more, he wished that he could cry like a normal being, but since he was a robot, he couldn't. Cream gazed into her best friend's closed eyes and wrapped her fingers together.

Cheese and Chocola nudged the Gizoid, smiling at him. They tried to cheer him up, but even they weren't good enough for it.

After a few moments of silence, G-merl finally spoke. "Cream, let me ask you something. You and Emerl were close when you met, right?"

Cream nodded.

"When you found me washed up on the beach, you took me to Tails' workshop and had me rebuilt… why did you rebuild _me_ when you could have just rebuilt Emerl?"

The rabbit never expected a question like that before. She turned to her Chao, Cheese and wondered what she could say. Cheese stroked his chin and thought of something his friend could say. He floated towards her ear and whispered into it, suggesting a possible answer.

Cream listened to every word and nodded.

"Can I tell you something, G-merl?" she asked.

The Gizoid nodded.

"When Ms. Rose first introduced me to you, back when you and I were helping her lose weight, I was scared. I mistook you for another Eggman robot. I thought you were going to hurt Ms. Rose and me, but I realized that I misjudged you. You turned out to be a really nice robot. You helped Cheese and I escape from Eggman's lair when he captured us, you played with me, taught me how to defend myself, you did everything that a friend would do for me."

Cream paused, giving G-merl time to process her words.

"I was heartbroken when Eggman corrupted you the first time and turned you evil. I didn't want to fight you, so Mr. Sonic did that while the others and I watched. When the fight ended, I wanted you to come back, but you didn't. You said goodbye before… before… before you went away. A while later, you came back, but you were in a different body."

"Came back?" G-merl inquired. "Emerl didn't come back."

"Yes, he did," Cream smiled. "Or should I say, yes, _you_ did. Tails told me that Eggman built you from Emerl's data, meaning that part of Emerl was inside of you. As I joined Mr. Sonic and Mr. Tails on their adventure, I began to wonder what would happen if you become a good guy like you were before. When you stole the Chaos Emeralds and Mr. Sonic and Dr. Eggman defeated you, Mother and I were walking on the beach to celebrate. That's where we found you…

"…I didn't want to throw you away because I knew you had the potential to be yourself again. A kind-hearted, peace-loving, robot who's been there for me since day one. Even though you look different, I know you and Emerl are the same person. I wanted Mr. Tails to rebuild you because I know he can rebuild you into the robot you are today. And from time and time again, you've proven that you're not just a good friend to me, but a good friend to everyone."

"Cream's right, Dear," Vanilla joined the conversation. "I know you blame yourself for what happened but know that I'm not angry with you. You weren't in control of your actions, but no matter what happens, you'll always be part of the family."

"I know you're part of my family," Big smiled. "You've helped me find Froggy. You've helped me go fishing. You helped me and Cream escape from that creepy jackal man. And Amy made you an honorary member of Team Rose."

"And one more thing," Cream finished. "As painful as it is, Emerl is gone, but at the same time, he's not. Why? Because he lives within you."

G-merl's eyes widened when he heard that.

Throughout this escapade, he's had countless flashbacks of his days as Emerl, which caused him to compare himself to his counterpart. But the rabbit's kind words made him think otherwise. There wasn't any reason for him to compare himself to Emerl. Why? Because he and Emerl are the same to an extent. Speaking of the Gizoid, G-merl thought he was hallucinating because he saw his old counterpart sitting on a platform in front of him. Nobody else noticed him, so he assumed he was a figment of his imagination.

G-merl stared into the eyes of Emerl, as the latter waved.

"She's got a point, y'know?" Emerl said with a soft chuckle. "My spirit is inside you. Cream loves you for who you are. You can't live without a friendship like that, can you?"

The figment of Emerl suddenly disappeared.

G-merl turned to Cream and rubbed her head. "You want to know something, Kiddo? You're going to grow up into someone special someday. I just know it."

Cream jumped into her best friend's arms and hugged him tightly. The Gizoid did the same. Soon, Vanilla joined the hug and so did Big. The cat was so excited, he lifted everyone off the ground, causing them to laugh.

Cheese and Chocola danced around G-merl, sitting on top of his head.

Big placed everyone down, ending the group hug.

Cream and Vanilla released G-merl.

"Are you okay, G-merl?" Vanilla asked.

"I'm fine, Ma'am," G-merl nodded. "Thank you… _all_ of you."

After a moment of silence, a realization whacked G-merl in the face. _**(5s)**_

"Oh, no!" the Gizoid panicked. "Sonic… and everyone else! What happened to them?"

"They were arrested by G.U.N.," Cream replied.

"What!? Oh, geez! I better go help them!"

"Wait, wait, G-merl, it's okay! They're free… but something else happened. Those mean echidna people I fought a while ago are back."

"The Nocturnus Clan? That's impossible, how did they-" the Gizoid snapped his fingers. "Synergy. Of course, he would do this."

"He used the magic portal stone and the Chaos Emeralds and stuck it onto Angel Island," Big added.

G-merl cracked his fingers. "Looks like I got a score to settle with Synergy. Stay here, guys, I'll be back."

Before he could take off, Cream grabbed G-merl's hand.

"Wait, let Mr. Big and I help you," she pleaded, turning to her mother. "Mother, I know this isn't right, nor lady-like. But I promised G-merl that I wouldn't let anyone hurt him. I know those mean echidnas are going to hurt him, and I want to be there to protect him. Can I please go with him? Mr. Big and the Resistance will keep me safe."

Vanilla glanced at Chocola before she mirrored her expression towards Big. With a single nod, she leaned down to her daughter and stroked her face. "Be careful out there. Cream, G-merl, Big, take care of each other. Keep each other safe."

"We will, Ma'am," G-merl replied with a thumbs up. "C'mon, Cream. Let's do it to it!"

Cream and Cheese smiled and cheered.

In a few seconds, G-merl grabbed Big's arms and pulled him upward, carrying him through the sky. Cream and Cheese followed close behind. Vanilla and Chocola waved goodbye.

As they ascended the clouds, G-merl's eyes began to glow blue.

Cream noticed this and asked. "What are you doing, G-merl?"

G-merl answered. "I'm just calling for some backup."

 _ **END OF CHAPTER 35**_

* * *

 _G-merl seems to be back in the game, but how long will it last? Will he, Cream, and Big make it to Nocturne in time, or will they witness the death of the Resistance? Sonic has Synergy on the ropes and it looks like the Gizoid is starting to regret his past actions. Let's just see how long Sonic's distraction can last. Knuckles and Shade make their way to the Master Emerald, Team Hooligan continues to upstage the Chaotix, and Imperator Ix plans his revenge. But what's going on with Team B? Find out when Team B ventures inside Nocturne's citadel in..._

 _"Chapter 36: Angel Nocturne: Part 3"._

* * *

 ** _POST-A/N:_**

 _Without going deep into spoilers (even though it's on the internet in 4K), the fight between Sonic and Synergy was inspired by the final battle between Sonic and Robotnik from the Sonic the Hedgehog Movie (2020). Only thing is, Sonic's not traveling around the world. Thanks to a good friend, StarShine89, I was able to pick out some Angel Island zones for Sonic to run around in while he distracts Synergy. I figured it would add some tension to the battle._

 _Response to TheLostEternity: I am not surprised the Shadow and Whisper scene is on the top of your list, it seems to be everyone's favorite scene. And I can't blame them, I needed to put that in to not only settle the dispute between Whisper and her emotions towards him, but I feel Shadow would be the one to do this if he heard about someone's true origins. Will Synergy come back or will he stay evil? Well, this chapter seems to show he's thinking about his motives. Let's see what happens in the future. Poor Vector, Espio, and Charmy, they're gonna be seeing a lot of the Hooligans doing good. I'm glad you found Sonic's "Crap, here we go again" funny. Now, I imagine Mario coming in the story going "Mama Mia, here we go again". G-merl, Cream, and Big shall return soon. In the meantime, I am more than happy to entertain you with this story. I'm glad you're enjoying it. I live to make people like you feel happy. :).  
_

 _That's all I have to say for now, everyone. Thank you all so much for taking the time to read. Don't forget to R &R! I'm The Sensational SpiderDom321 and I'll see you all next time!_

 _~SD321 (SpiderDom321)_


	36. Angel Nocturne: Part 3

_**A/N:** Well, everyone! I have some wonderful news. As of this moment, I've pre-written the remainder of Awakened. All 40 chapters have been completed. But I will give a final speech once we're at the conclusion of the story. Right now, we're still in the midst of the final battle. Knuckles and Shade went after the Master Emerald, Team A fought on the frontlines, Team B went into the citadel, and Sonic is dealing with Synergy. Let's see how well they can measure up. On an unrelated note, Awakened has reached **12,000 views!** Last week, it was 11,000, not we got 1,000 more! Infinite's Ruby and I are so happy and we want to thank everyone who's reading the story._

 ** _Suggested Music:_**

 ** _(1) Werehog Night Boss - Sonic Unleashed OST_**

 ** _(2) Battle Finale - Iron Man 3 OST_**

 ** _(3) Blitzkrieg Bop | Eronston Remix - The Ramones (Sonic the Hedgehog 2020 Movie Trailer 2 Song)_**

 _Without further ado, enjoy the show!_

* * *

 **Angel Nocturne: Part 3**

As Teams A and C struggled with their missions, Team B snuck inside the citadel. Unfortunately, they couldn't go five seconds without being unnoticed. But with a psychokinetic hedgehog like Silver on their side, Team B bypassed through the defenses by attacking Marauders, avoiding projectiles fired from Gizoid Centurions, and leaping over small cannons that shot waves of blue energy.

Whisper swung her Cube Hammer, as Tangle pounced on enemies.

Silver continued to defeat his opponents.

And Tails joined Amy in running down the hallway.

Everyone else quickly joined them.

As they ventured through the citadel, The fox's communicator rang. Answering it, Mighty and Ray's faces appeared on the other side.

"Hey, guys," Tails greeted. "How's the battle going?"

" _W-w-w-we-we d-did it, T-T-Tails,"_ Ray greeted, adjusting his blue scarf. _"We d-d-destroyed the def-d-defenses."_

" _All thanks to Blaze,"_ Mighty added. _"She just transformed back."_

Silver approached the Miles Electric. "May I talk to Blaze? I want to see how she's doing?"

Hearing the sound of her friend, the lavender cat walked towards Mighty and Ray. _"I'm fine, Silver. Thank you for your concern. How are you guys?"_

"We're almost at the Chaos Emeralds' location," Amy replied.

"They should be down this corner," Tails pointed. "We'll talk to you guys later. Be careful!"

" _L-likewise,"_ Ray winked.

Hanging up the call, Team B turned to the right and kicked open a door. They were inside the dungeon room. All around them were empty jail cells with little to no guards in sight. Tails looked at his Miles Electric and touched the screen; a yellow dot indicating the Chaos Emeralds' location was close by.

"Where are the guards?" Tangle shrugged with annoyance. "This is lame. Shouldn't they be piling up!?"

" _We could use a break from fighting, Tangle,"_ Whisper replied. _"Let's focus on getting the Chaos Emeralds."_

"Right," Tangle nodded. "Sorry, I guess I'm just excited. Although, I do wish I can beat up Eggman for what he did to Synergy. The next time I see that guy, I'll kick him right in his-"

"Standing right here, y'know?" the voice of Dr. Eggman scoffed.

Team B quickly halted.

Turning to the right, they saw Team Eggman trapped in a jail cell. Rough and Tumble still played games with Orbot and Cubot, Metal Sonic leaned against the wall, and both scientists were against the bars.

"Huh, look at that," Tangle commented.

"Eggman? Starline?" Tails raised an eyebrow.

Whisper raised her Variable Wispon. _"Stay back, Eggman!"_

"How can I stand back?" Dr. Eggman asked. "I'm _stuck_ in this cell!"

"How'd you get in there anyway?" Silver inquired.

"Ask that infernal Gizoid! When he brought down Nocturne, he _threw_ us in this cell! I shall destroy Synergy once I get my hands on him!" the doctor calmed down. "But first, I must humbly ask the five of you, could you do me a solid and let me out of here?"

Team B didn't have to think of their response.

"I don't think so," Silver replied.

"What!?"

"Both you and Starline made Synergy evil again! Give one _good_ reason why we should let you out of this cell!"

Dr. Eggman got down on his knees, clapping his hands together. His eyes were teary, and he started sniffing. "Because… if I stay here for the rest of my life, I'll never get to do the things I've wanted to do, see the things I wanted to see. I'll never get to rule the world as I've always dreamed of. There are so many robots that I wanted to create. Also, I've wanted to go back and get my teaching degree. I so enjoy telling people what to do. Tails, Amy, Silver, Stretchy Tail, and Edgy Wolf… please have mercy on a poor man's soul."

Team B shared the same cringe-filled faces, as Whisper slammed down the bars with her Cube Hammer.

"Get a grip, man," Tumble mumbled.

"We're seriously gonna let them go?" Silver inquired.

"We're not heartless, Silver," Amy answered. "Eggman and Starline are pure evil. Everyone in this cell is, but we can't leave them on Nocturne forever. That's not how we operate."

The white hedgehog felt guilty about his remark. "Sorry, Amy."

"Speaking of Nocturne," Dr. Starline brushed his coat off. "How are you guys planning to get rid of it? Do you plan to destroy the city or are you going to send it back to the Twilight Cage somehow?"

"Let's worry about getting the emeralds first," Tails replied. "Tangle, Whisper, Silver, get these guys out of here. Amy, you and I will-"

 _ **BLAST! (1)**_

" _YOW!_ " Tails screamed, as a giant spear almost stabbed him in the head; it landed against the wall.

Everyone glanced over and saw Gizoids to their right. But they weren't ordinary Gizoids, they were Gizoid Guardians. Designed differently from previous counterparts, they were twice the size and were built with a much bulkier structure, standing with a wide chest area and abdomen. Included with muscular shoulders and massive arms, the heads were the same as a normal Gizoid; however, their head fins were larger in scale. Lastly, instead of having feet, they had a single-wide wheel.

"Shoot!" Amy grunted. "I remember those!"

"I'll get em'!" Tangle shouted with a cocky attitude. She rushed forward.

" _Tangle, wait!"_ Whisper attempted to stop the lemur, but it was too late. The Gizoid Guardians took turned throwing powerful jabs at her, beating her to a pulp. Whisper shooed them back with the Laser Wisp and she grabbed her friend. Tails shot waves of yellow energy from his Arm Cannon, but the guardians still stood.

"No effect?" Tails gasped.

Rough and Tumble fist-bumped, running towards the Gizoids.

"This is our cue!" Tumble began.

"You better be humble!" Rough continued.

Both skunks finished their rhyme. " _These machines are in the presence of_ _ **Rough and-OOF!**_ _"_

Both skunks met the same fate as Tangle. They fell near each other.

"Tumble," both of them moaned.

"They've been upgraded since the last time we saw them," Amy said with worry. "Everyone, retreat!"

"What about the Chaos Emeralds?" Silver inquired.

"We'll deal with that later! _RUN!_ "

"You don't gotta tell me twice!" Cubot shouted. Everyone made a run for it, except Metal Sonic.

"Cowards run," the metal hedgehog snarled. "I _win_."

But even his power was no match for the Gizoid Guardians.

"On second thought, I'm out of here."

Team B and Team Eggman ran out of the dungeon. The Gizoid Guardians chased them.

* * *

A wormhole opened in the middle of the Nocturne battlefield.

Synergy fell out of it and faceplanted on the ground, nearly crashing into a pool of lava. Sonic landed on his feet and boosted forward. Synergy blocked his attack and dodged Sonic's attack. The Gizoid grabbed Sonic's arm and kicked him in the chest, blasting him in the same body part. The blue hedgehog rolled backward before he leaped off the wall and volley kicked Synergy.

The Gizoid flew across the lavafall when he landed on the other side.

Sonic leaped over the molten river before he and Synergy engaged in a fistfight.

As the two brawled, Sonic grabbed Synergy's arms, held him back, and made him look at the battlefield below. "Look at this, Synergy! Is this what you want!?"

"This madness won't last forever," Synergy retorted, flipping Sonic on his back. "It will end once Imperator Ix safely liberates his people."

Sonic spun around and formed a tornado around Synergy. Pulling the Gizoid through the air, Sonic fired nothing but homing attacks.

"You're not getting it, are you? Ix. Is. _**Evil!**_ He just wants you to do his bidding! Do you think he's the type of person that cares about the cultures on this planet? No! He wants to take it away! You wouldn't want that, would you!?"

"If it were true, I _wouldn't_ want it! But that's the thing, Imperator Ix wanted to save his people and live in peace, but all you stopped him for your own selfish desires! So, now, _I'll make you_ _ **rest**_ _in peace!_ "

"You totally stole that line from G-merl!"

Sonic jumped over Synergy's Chaos Claw.

Curling into a ball, Sonic sprightly homing attacked his enemy from head to toe. Kicking him in the chest, he fired an uppercut and continued landing his blows. Synergy attempted to attack, but Sonic caught his fist, punched him twice, kicked him one more time, and finished things off with one last homing attack.

Synergy rolled across the ground, laying on his stomach.

The blue hedgehog panted, rubbing his knees. "Heh, heh… it's funny, Synergy. You and I have fought each other twice throughout this whole thing and you whooped _my_ butt!... Guess now the tables have turned."

"That's where you're wrong, Sonic," Synergy slowly got up. "If you know anything about ancient history," Synergy ascended the air. "You would the Nocturnus Clan are always _one step ahead_. _FIRE!_ "

Out of the blue, Gizoid Guardians emerged and threw their spears forward. They also shot electric projectiles at the blue hedgehog. Sonic found himself whacked by a few energy balls and he dodged a few spears. Rolling into the guardians, he was thrown off balance by one of them and tossed off of the platform.

Free falling, Sonic jumped against the wall and ran down.

But unfortunately, he was shot down thanks to the Gizoid Guardians.

Landing on the floor, Sonic looked up and saw the robots chase after him. Synergy followed close behind.

"Aw, nertz," Sonic gulped, as he ran off at the speed of light.

* * *

The Hooligans, with Espio and Blaze still in Bark's arms, drove the Marvelous Queen to the ground. Vector, Charmy, Mighty, and Ray regrouped with the bandits, as their friends jumped out of the polar bear's arms. Espio and Blaze shared a glance with Bark before they approached their allies.

"Y'know, that's _two_ times we saved you guys," Bean winked, annoying the Chaotix. "Are you making mistakes on purpose just to make us look good? If you are, I really appreciate it. I could use a nice ego boost."

"Take it easy, Looney Toon," Vector rolled his eyes. "So what if you saved us twice? That doesn't make you heroes."

"Speaking of which, Boss Man Big Chief Kahuna," Bean motioned to Nack, hugging him. "We could make a couple of bucks off this hero thing. I hear they make more dough than the bad guys. Plus, I've always wanted to wear a superhero cape. Can we please have a Heroes for Hire organization? We can have a mascot! I'll feed them, clean them, raise them, and named them Jorge!"

"Criminy, Bean, get _off_ me!" the weasel shoved the duck off of him, smirking at his teammates. "Look, it ain't our fault we save you guys from certain doom. We're just making ourselves look good."

"The only reason you joined this team was so you wouldn't have to go to jail," Espio grunted. "We could have easily left you in that prison."

"Speaking of which," Charmy stroked his chin. "Why _are_ they still here? They helped us change Synergy's personality, so why do we need them here?"

"Because the writer thinks we're awesome!" Bean answered.

 _ **BLAST!**_

A giant spear landed in the ground, shooting a ray of blue energy at Team A. Everyone launched into the sky, the Hooligans fell off the Marvelous Queen.

"My bike!" Nack shouted with fear.

Espio and Mighty landed on the ground; the latter caught Ray in his arms. Vector and Charmy landed on their rears and the Hooligans landed on their sides and Blaze skidded across the dirt.

Team Dark, who finished a fight with a Gizoid army, ran towards them.

"What was that?" Rouge inquired.

"Does _that_ answer your question," Blaze pointed. Across from the team were two hordes of Gizoid Guardians.

With their wheels revved, they sped across the golden road and onto the dirt, throwing their spears and firing projectiles. Everyone panicked before they attacked, but when they did, they were quickly met with the same results as Sonic and Team B: outmatched and overpowered. Not even Blaze's flames could penetrate through their armor. This was probably because she was exhausted from her time as Burning Blaze, but even in her normal state, she did knock a few of them down by burning their heads. Everyone else did the same, but they were overrun by too many guardians.

"Holy smokes!" Bean shouted, as he smacked in the face by a Gizoid Guardian. "There's too many of them! I'm out of here!"

"Oh, no you don't!" Vector grabbed the duck. "You're staying right here with us!"

The Gizoid Guardians fired at Team A.

"Yeah, scratch that!" The crocodile shouted in fear. "We're out of here!"

"Everyone, retreat!" Espio hollered. "Get to safety!"

"I agree, move!" Shadow nodded.

Everyone in Team A sped down the road, avoiding explosions from all directions. Omega went ahead of the crowd and shot a few rockets at some pillars. Watching them fall down, he created barricades that will hopefully shield himself and the others. Thankfully, everyone was able to make it, as they ducked away from heavy fire. Sadly, Ray was shot in the back by a laser.

" _ **RAY!**_ " Mighty howled.

Charmy caught the squirrel mid-air and he landed beside the other Chaotix members. "I got em', Mighty!"

"Thanks, Charmy. Ray, are you okay?"

The flying squirrel coughed. "I'm o-okay, Mighty. R-r-really."

The Gizoid Guardians kept shooting. They stopped in place and repeated their process, praying to break down the makeshift barricade. But as they fired, they felt something jump on top of their heads; it was everyone in Team B. They had Team Eggman beside them and they blasted through the crowd, being followed by the other robots. Everyone jumped over the pillars and leaned against the wall.

Dr. Eggman grabbed Orbot and Cubot, holding them close. Granted, he would never do this, but since he was frightened, he didn't care. Dr. Starline peeked over, only to be shot at. He ducked below, as Rough and Tumble screamed.

Metal Sonic thought of a battle tactic.

"Good to see you guys again," Espio greeted Team B. "Although, I didn't expect Eggman to be with you."

"I've heard it before!" Dr. Eggman shouted.

"Well, look who it is," Vector grunted. "The man who started this mess."

Sonic suddenly joined the others. "What's going on, guys? I was hoping you would be doing better than me, but now I see you're doing _worse_."

"Thanks for the words of encouragement, Big Blue," Mighty said sarcastically.

"This is all _your_ fault!" Dr. Eggman scolded the Resistance. "If you had stopped Synergy before he did all of this, then we wouldn't be here right now!"

" _Our_ fault!?" Sonic hollered back. " _You're_ the one who manipulated him!"

"Okay, okay, we all make mistakes! How are we going to fix this mess!?"

Synergy approached the Gizoid Guardian army, watching the Resistance from above. He spoke to Imperator Ix through a communicator. "Master, the plan is working. The Resistance is falling thanks to the Gizoid Guardians. Soon, they'll pay for trying to stop you."

" _Excellent work, Project: Synergy,"_ Imperator Ix replied. _"Finish the job."_

"Yes, Master. Gizoid Guardians, open fire! Make them pay for demolishing our clan!"

The Gizoid Guardians kept firing. Slowly, the shield started to crumble.

Everyone was close to one another.

Tangle and Whisper held each other close.

Silver and Blaze stood side by side.

The Hooligans huddled beside Mighty, Ray, and the Chaotix.

Dr. Eggman hugged Orbot and Cubot.

Dr. Starline, Rough, and Tumble screamed with terror.

Metal Sonic was silent.

Team Dark clenched their fists.

And Sonic, Tails, and Amy were panting heavily.

As the barricade began to dissolve due to heavy fire, there was a miracle that happened…

…The Gizoid Guardians stopped shooting. _**(1s)**_

The Resistance and Team Eggman peeked over the wall and raised their eyebrows, wondering what caused them to stop shooting. Even Synergy was stumbled by this turn of events.

" _Project: Synergy, what's going on?"_ Imperator Ix asked.

"I don't know, Master."

" _Find out what it is!"_

Suddenly, the Gizoid Guardians looked up, detecting something in the sky. From there, they started shooting. Everyone followed the glowing lasers.

Nothing was there.

"What the heck are they shooting at?" Synergy asked.

"Tails, what's going on?" Sonic inquired.

"I'm not sure," Tails replied, rubbing his head.

"MULTIPLE OBJECTS DETECTED IN LOWER ATMOSPHERE," Omega answered. _**(2)**_

Every member of the Resistance, the Eggman Empire, and Synergy glanced upward. It didn't take long for four mountain-sized rockets to appear out of nowhere, locking onto the Gizoid Guardians.

 _ **KRAKOOM!**_

Half of the Gizoid army was decimated with ease.

Other Gizoids and Marauders emerged from the city and approached the barricade, but they stopped to take a look at four objects entering the battlefield.

As soon as they got closer, they took everyone by surprise.

Team Chaotix, Mighty, Ray, Silver, Blaze, Tangle, and Whisper smirked. Team Dark nodded and smiled. Tails and Amy were astounded, and Sonic was more than excited.

He shouted, "Oh, yeah!"

The four objects were none other than G-merl, Cream, and Big. By their side was Cheese. But he wasn't the only one who was with them. Emerging from the clouds were a few friends the Resistance met along the way: Honey the Cat, who was riding around on an orange Bike type Extreme Gear, Jewel the Beetle, who was armed with the Lightning Wispon.

That wasn't all of them.

Behind them was a series of battleships piloted by soldiers of the G.U.N. and joining them was another shuttle, similar to the Restoration Shuttle, with the Resistance HQ logo on it.

Everyone was taken back by the number of ships there were and the fact their friends came back to help them.

Honey and Jewel stopped mid-air, winking down at their friends.

The G.U.N. transport ships landed, releasing squadrons of soldiers and assault drones. Leading them was Commander Abraham Tower, who operated his assault drone, Diablon. The red, yellow, and black robot flexed its fingers and stretched its arms, itching for a fight.

The Resistance ship landed as well and released Gadget, Corvin, Fuchsia and every single Mobian that was involved in the Phantom Ruby War.

And Lastly, G-merl landed on the ground with Cream and Big.

"Ha-ha!" Tangle shook Whisper and Amy. "I told you they'd come back to help us! This is gonna be amazing!"

"Hey, guys," G-merl greeted. "Sorry, we're late. I needed some reassurance."

Cream and G-merl exchanged a happy glance. The two of them, along with Big, looked up at Synergy.

"You're a little outmatched, Synergy!" G-merl called out. "Make this easier for yourself and give up!"

Synergy clenched his fist.

Everyone in the Resistance stood by G-merl, Big, Cream, Honey, and Jewel. All of the heroes took a stand with G.U.N. troops and rookies right behind them. Synergy grunted and called his army forward.

" _Seize them!_ " The blue/green Gizoid commanded.

The Marauders and Gizoids charged forward.

"Guess they're not giving up," G-merl folded his arms. "Fine by me. Amy, since Knuckles isn't here, do you want to take command?"

"Gladly," Amy twirled her hammer. " _Resistance,_ _ **CHARGE!**_ " _**(2s) (3)**_

Both parties entered the final battle.

The first confrontation was between Sonic, G-merl, Cream, and an army of Gizoids. They all exchanged hard blows before the three heroes decided to take it a step further. The blue hedgehog, at full speed, boosted into the Gizoid army before he curled into a ball. He ran around the pathway so fast that he shot a gust of blue wind from his palms, blowing the competition away. G-merl and Cream, forming a double-spin dash, rolled around like a bowling ball down a bowling lane, knocking down Marauders like bowling pins. Big the Cat followed from behind and clobbered the Marauders with ease. He body-slammed them to the ground and wrapped some of them with his fishing rod. Swinging them back and forth, he chucked them into the air, only for them to slammed by Diablon.

Mighty and Ray ran alongside Team Chaotix, as they shared fierce punches and kicks on the Marauders and Gizoids. Being the strongest one in the team, the armadillo shielded himself from projectiles with his steel-like shell, as he grabbed onto soldiers and knocked them out of the battlefield. Ray tucked into a ball and mimicked Sonic's spin dash, but sadly, he was knocked out of his form thanks to a Gizoid Guardian. Aiming for the head, Espio threw a Kunai at it and assisted the squirrel, pulling him on his feet.

"T-thanks, Espio," Ray gave a thumbs up.

"You're welcome, Ray. Team Chaotix leaves no one behind."

The flying-squirrel smiled.

Vector and Charmy worked together, exchanging hard blows and powerful attacks. The bee stung multiple Marauders in their rears, hearing them scream like little children. The crocodile, chewing on spicy bubble gum, blew a gust of fire from his mouth. Incinerating multiple Gizoids, Vector bit off one of their arms and showed off his brute strength.

"Take this, you jerks!" Charmy shouted, as he slammed two Marauders' heads together.

Espio and Ray regrouped with the team.

"Vector, I have to wonder, how does your tongue not burn when you chew that stuff?" Espio inquired.

"Who says my mouth doesn't burn?" Vector asked.

Espio's eyes widened. "Oh…"

Mighty joined the team by slamming the ground, sending a shockwave that blew the enemies out of the field.

"It's good to have you here, Mighty," Charmy smiled.

"Glad to be back at the right time, Charmy," Mighty nodded, as he finished knocking enemies down.

With the extended Chaotix team fighting for their lives, Tangle and Whisper regrouped with Jewel and Honey the Cat. The lemur wrapped her tail around the soldiers' blasters and whipper them out of their hands, giving Whisper a chance to shoot a set of crystals from her pocket. With her expert marksmanship, she shot the Laser Wispon from her blaster and annihilated a series of Gizoid Centurions. Whisper switched to Rocket Mode and destroyed an army of Gizoid Guardians (she went for their heads). Meanwhile, Honey rolled across the ground and showcased her puppy dog eyes, making her enemies stop dead in their tracks.

"You wouldn't hurt a cute, little kitten, would you?" she pleaded with a smile.

The echidnas exchanged curious looks before aiming their blasters at her.

"Guess you would," Honey shrugged. Cracking her fingers, she suddenly clapped her hands against a Marauder's cheeks before unleashing her fury.

With her cat claws extended, she made sure every enemy that surrounded suffered her wrath. Landing punches, jabs, scratches, kicks, and other blows, Honey volley kicked a Gizoid and disarmed multiple Marauders. Eventually, she flipped over one echidna and kicked him in his chest, sending him skyrocketing into his brethren.

Jewel, who wasn't combat experienced, nervously swung her Lightning Wispon around like an actual rope. Without looking, she managed to disarm multiple soldiers, grab them by their stomachs, and whack them around. Tangle thought she looked like a wild canine chucking around a chew toy. To which, she laughed at the thought of her best friend doing that. Speaking of which, the lemur approached the beetle and helped her fight off the surrounding wave of enemies.

When their fight was over, Tangle graciously wrapped her arms around the insect.

Whisper approached the duo, shooting orange rockets at Gizoid Guardians.

"Jewel, you came!" the lemur smiled excitingly. "And you got yourself a weapon! That's so cool!"

"Ha-ha, thanks," Jewel rubbed her head. "G-merl called me here. At first, I was nervous about coming, but after thinking about it and thinking about you, I decided that I wanted to help."

" _We appreciate you coming, Jewel,"_ Whisper smiled. _"Thank you… on your left!"_

Whisper shot a Marauder that emerged behind the beetle.

Tangle wrapped her arms around both of her friends. "Man, this is awesome! We should totally come up with a team name for ourselves."

" _I don't think that's necessary,"_ Whisper replied, shooting a Gizoid from behind.

"It's _totally_ necessary! But what could our name be? It's gotta be something simple, but effective. Team Lemur Strike? No, that sounds narcissistic."

Jewel and Whisper gasped because an army of Gizoid Centurions and Guardians charged at them like raging bulls.

With their combined strength, they distracted them while the lemur thought of a solid team name.

"Team Feral Strike? No, I'm sure that one's taken. The Underdogs? No, that's too generic and really stupid. It's gotta be something that screams justice." she snapped her fingers, thinking a name. "Ah-ha! Team Justice! That's it! Team Justice!"

Whisper slammed a Gizoid that approached the lemur. _"It's nice that you thought of a name, but would you mind helping us, please?"_

"Oh! Ha-ha, sorry!"

Team Dark focused on fighting with Diablon and the rest of G.U.N.'s soldiers. All of them were fleeing forward to wipe out the countless Marauders in a quick motion. With his Air Shoes, Shadow rocketed through the battlefield, shooting Chaos Spears at his enemies. The black hedgehog faced off against other Gizoids to protect his teammates. He landed on the ground and shot a Chaos Blast, sending the Gizoids to their doom. Rouge joined the hedgehog and fired fierce kicks. Omega nonchalantly walked forward. The bulky mech shot his lasers and activated his machine guns at a cluster of wannabe Emerl clones. Even though he didn't require assistance, Diablon fired a streak of red energy from his eye. Charging up his anti-matter cannon, Diablon shot a large dome-shaped radius that exploded no less than forty feet from everyone.

Shadow and Rouge jumped on Diablon's shoulders.

"Looks like you finally came around," Rouge nudged Diablon's forehead. "What made you change your mind?"

" _The President heard that I arrested the Resistance,"_ the commander replied. _"He told me that I was being unfair by not hearing their explanation. Once this is over, I demand a reason why they were keeping Synergy by their sides."_

"THE NOCTURNUS CLAN SHALL FALL BY MY HANDS!" Omega replied. "TARGETS SHALL BE ERADICATED!"

As half of the G.U.N. soldiers and the Resistance fought off the invasion, Silver and Blaze joined alongside Tails, Amy, and the Hooligans. They helped them out by clearing out half the enemies with ease. Tails and Amy have everyone a thumbs up before they ran up to Sonic, G-merl, Cream, and Big.

"What took you so long?" Amy playfully teased G-merl.

"Sorry about that, Amy," G-merl shrugged. "Cream and Big helped me out of my slump. Where are Knuckles and Shade?"

"They went after the Master Emerald," Tails answered. "We were trying to go after the Chaos Emeralds before we were ambushed by the Gizoid Guardians."

"Where are they?" G-merl inquired. "I'll go find them for you."

"They're inside the citadel," Tails handed the Gizoid his Miles Electric. "Take this emerald tracker. You should find them in an underground lair."

"Thanks, Tails," G-merl waved. "I'll be back."

"Wait," Cream tugged on the Gizoid's arm. "Can I come with you, G-merl? You're going to need help."

"I want to come too," Big smiled.

"Sure," G-merl nodded. "Eggman once said, the more the merrier. Come on, guys!"

Grabbing Big's arms, G-merl flew through the air and dropped an armada of missiles on the army below. Cream and Cheese flew close behind, as the four heroes flew into the citadel. But from above, Synergy watched them enter through the window.

Clenching his fist, the Chaos hybrid followed them.

On the surface, Mighty and Ray tossed and turned, landing more blows against their enemies.

It didn't take long for Honey to arrive, slicing two Gizoids in half.

The armadillo noticed her and smiled heavily. "Honey?"

"Hey, babe!" the cat greeted.

Ray stopped fighting once he heard the cat's reply. "W-w-wait, b-babe?"

Before Mighty could shake Honey's hand, the cat pulled him close to her and bestowed a kiss upon his lips. Seeing that sight, the flying squirrel's eyes jumped out of his sockets, his veins nearly popped, and his heart pounded like a drum. _ **(3s)**_

Team Chaotix wasn't too far from where they were. Charmy was the first to see the kiss. Tapping Vector and Espio on their shoulders, the three watched as the cat and the armadillo shared their love.

"Oh, my!" Vector gasped.

"What the?" Espio inquired.

"Holy Mama!" Charmy giggled.

Ray was the most awestruck out of everyone.

He and Mighty had been best friends since they were locked up on Eggman Island together. He thought he knew everything about him, but he was wrong. He never knew that his best friend gave his heart to someone. Someone like Honey the Cat: the number-one fashionista in Empire City. This was funny because Ray recalled meeting Honey during Jewel's fashion contest. He met her and greeted her happily, she did the same with Mighty. But he didn't think about them being romantically involved with each other.

With his heart still beating, Ray clenched his forehead and spoke his mind. " _Mighty!?_ "

The armadillo and cat stopped kissing, noticing everyone was watching them.

"Uh, oh," Honey gulped.

"Ray," Mighty spoke. "I can explain."

" _Dude, how could you not tell me you had a girlfriend!?_ " Ray continued his tangent. He wasn't angry, nor was he disappointed in Mighty, he was confused. " _You two have been dating each other this whole time!? How is that possible? You and I have been in places without internet access, so there's no way you had an online relationship! Ah-ha! I got it; you've been writing letters to each other! Wait, no, that's impossible! We never stayed in places with mailboxes, so there's no way you two could write to each other!_ "

"Ray, let me-"

" _How could you not tell me you two were dating!? Huh, we're best friends, aren't we, Mighty? I thought you would've told me! Wait, she has a friend, right? What's her name, Tiara Boobowski? Is she single? If so, can you hook a brother up? Wait, what am I saying!? I'm not into dating anyone at the moment? I think I'm freaking out! This is so insane!_ "

"Ray."

" _I can't believe you have a girlfriend! I sound like a broken record when I say this, but I can't believe that I found out right now. Right now, we're fighting a war against a bunch of echidnas, I didn't expect to find this out during this moment! What on Mobius is going on here!? I'M FREAKING OUT!_ "

" _RAY!_ "

" _WHAT!?_ "

A moratorium occurred in the environment. The armadillo walked over to squirrel, stared at him for a few seconds, and gave him a hug. "Dude, you realize you just said all of that without stuttering, right?"

Ray tapped his neck. "I did?... Oh, my gosh! I really did!" he got excited. "Hey, guys! Listen to me, I can talk normally now!"

Team Chaotix grinned.

"But that doesn't mean I won't forget this," Ray motioned to Mighty and Honey.

"Oh, trust me, Ray," Vector tapped the squirrel's shoulder. "We're _definitely_ gonna have a talk about this."

Mighty and Honey gulped.

As the detectives spoke with the lovebirds, everyone in the Eggman Empire hid behind a pile of debris, watching the endless donnybrook escalate.

"Man, how would it be if _we_ were in there?" Rough commented.

"I know right," Tumble nodded. "That looks awesome, Bro."

"I need to get those emeralds," Dr. Eggman commented.

"What we _need_ to do is get out of here," Dr. Starline replied. "We can't stay here for any longer. If we do, we'll get killed!"

"Nonsense!" Dr. Eggman retorted. "Once I get those emeralds, I can use them to overthrow the Nocturnus Clan! I'll rebuild my lair on top of their city, build my army of Gizoids, and create a nice throne on top of the Master Emerald! Metal Sonic, fetch those Chaos Emeralds for daddy! If someone gets in your way, _crush them!_ "

Metal Sonic obeyed and flew towards the citadel.

"If this plan of yours goes well, I'll take back my skepticism," Dr. Starline stroked his chin. "However, I humbly request that we go somewhere safe. I do not wish to be part of this battle."

"I can agree with that," Dr. Eggman replied. "We can sneak- _Olof_. Huh?"

The mad doctor bumped into something soft behind him. It was the white, soft fur of Bark the Polar Bear. With his arms folded, he had Nack and Bean by his side.

"G'evening, Mates," Nack smiled evilly. "Going somewhere?"

"Nack, Bean, Bark!" Dr. Eggman chuckled nervously. "Good to see you guys again. Hey, listen. Let's make a deal. If you guys let us go, I'll give you a fair profit once all of this chaos is over. Deal?"

The Hooligans shared a glance.

* * *

Suddenly, the Eggman Empire found themselves locked in jail… again.

This time, they were trapped on one of the G.U.N. airships.

Nack, Bean, and Bark placed them behind bars.

"This is absurd," Dr. Starline grumbled. "You three are just as bad as the Babylon Rogues? Why are you working with the Resistance?"

"Well, we figured we could make some good cash off this hero stuff," Bean answered. "Plus, it's nice to put someone in jail rather than let someone put _us_ in jail. Does that make sense? I think it does. I still think we should have a Heroes for Hire thing, Whaddya think, Nack?"

"Eh, I'll pass on that," Nack shook his head. "But one's things for certain, Dr. Eggman's plans have just been cracked." The weasel put on a pair of black shades as soon as he said that. The three Hooligans shared a laugh. Even Bark joined in the fun.

Watching the bandits were Espio, Vector, and Charmy.

"Three times," Vector moaned. "That's _three_ times the Hooligans did something good."

"I wouldn't be surprised if Amy makes them honorary members of the Resistance," Espio folded his arms.

"Next thing you know," Charmy said. "The _Babylon Rogues_ are going to start behaving."

All three detectives cringed.

"That's something I'm _not_ looking forward to," Vector said.

"Agreed," Espio nodded.

* * *

As the Resistance advances into combat, Knuckles and Shade were cruising down the forest of Angel Island. They were almost as Shrine Isle, where they planned to disconnect the Master Emerald from Nocturne, separating the two islands. As they rode around on their Extreme Gear, Shade looked over her shoulder, seeing if anyone was following her.

"Are you okay, Shade?" Knuckles asked.

"I'm fine," the orange echidna answered. "I'm just worried about everyone else."

"It sounded like things were going bad before, but I think everything's settled down. I don't know who's winning, but knowing the Resistance, they found a way to push through. Amy _did_ think of a good plan after all. Heh, I'm thinking of letting her take over once this is over."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean I'm gonna let her become the new commander of the Resistance. She seems like she'd fit the role. She's done a lot of work during the war, it's only fair I make her the new leader. Do you think that's fair?"

"Amy showed that she can fend for herself when we ventured into the Twilight Cage, so yes. I believe she will be a worthy successor to your role. I wish I was part of the Resistance from the beginning. I would've loved to see how you guys operated."

"Except for one invasion in Metropolis, everything went fine… somewhat."

"What?"

"Nothing."

The red echidna felt a bit of pain in his forehead. " _Urgh_ …"

"Are you okay, Knuckles?"

"I'm fine, Shade. I can feel the Master Emerald's power. It's calling to me."

"That means we're close by, yes?"

"Indeed. Are you ready for this?"

Shade nodded. "I am. Let's go save your island."

Within a few seconds, Knuckles and Shade arrived at Shrine Isle. The night was still young, and lightning struck as storm clouds formed around the shrine itself. Standing on top of it was Imperator Ix himself. Holding his scepter, he waited for his fellow echidnas to arrive. Jumping off their hoverboards, Shade and Knuckles shared one last glance before walking up the shrine's stairs.

"What have you _done_ to your uniform?" Imperator Ix snarled, noticing Shade's new look.

"That's an odd way of saying hello," Shade grinned. "Haven't you heard? I'm no longer associated with the clan."

"Yet you still carry our equipment. A hypocrite is what you are."

"Release the Master Emerald, Ix!" Knuckles demanded.

"You know, it's amazing," Imperator Ix chuckled. "If it weren't for that piece of scrap metal, none of this would've happened."

"If only Synergy could hear what you're saying," Shade grunted. "He would know that you care _nothing_ for the people. All you want is world conquest! Family means _nothing_ to you."

"Family is for the weak, Shade. You of all people should know that. Speaking of family, the Resistance's paltry efforts do not concern me. One by one, they'll become a black mark on the floor. And you two are nothing compared to my power."

"Are we done talking?" Knuckles clapped his fists.

"I guess so," Shade answered.

"I _know_ so," Imperator Ix clenched his fist, twirling his scepter. "You're going to stop me, aren't you? Come on, _show me what you're made of._ "

Knuckles and Shade prepared for their showdown with Imperator Ix.

 _ **END OF CHAPTER 36**_

* * *

 _The rematch of the century is about to happen. Knuckles and Shade: two echidnas with a strong sense of justice are going up against Imperator Ix: a fellow echidna who cares about nothing but running a dictatorship. These three fighters haven't faced each other in a long time, let's see how they can hold up. Meanwhile, the Resistance is pushing foward thanks to G-merl's plan. But how long can this last? Will G-merl, Cream, and Big get the Chaos Emeralds while avoiding Synergy and Metal Sonic? Let's find out how everything goes when we reach the end of the Angel Nocturne story arc in..._

 _"Chapter 37: Angel Nocturne: Part 4"._

* * *

 ** _POST-A/N:_**

 _For anyone who recognizes the name Diablon, that is the name of a boss battle from the game, Shadow the Hedgehog. Depending on your choices (which was a stupid system), Shadow could have a boss battle against Sonic and the G.U.N. Commander, who rode around in a mech called Diablon. I figured I would bring a destructive drone like this one in a fight against the Nocturnus Clan. At least it's fighting alongside Shadow rather than against him._

 _An original plan was to have Sonic join Knuckles and Shade in the fight against Imperator Ix as a callback to Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, but I figured why not have Sonic try to reason with Synergy instead. By the way, I've been seeing videos of people bashing Sonic's characterization in the IDW Comics, which makes me a bit nervous. How am I doing with Sonic's characterization throughout the story so far? I feel I'm doing good, but what do you guys think? I'm trying to dive back to his personality from Unleashed, Black Knight, Secret Rings, and other games before Colors, Free Riders, TSR, all that stuff._

 _The idea for Mighty and Honey dating was inspired by a story called "Seven Mighty x Honey Prompts" written by PopfullaArtist (formally Toni the Mink). That story deals with the lives of Mighty the Armadillo and Honey the Cat as a couple. There is one chapter where Ray gets mad about them dating. Of course, I didn't want to copy from the author, so I made Mighty and Honey's relationship into a comedic joke rather than something serious._

 _Ray losing his stutter is callback to how Pre-SGW Archie Ray had a stutter, but then the comic was rebooted, Ray no longer had his stutter. I personally like him with the stutter since it gives him more personality, but for the sake of his outburst here, I decided to have him shout with full confidence. Poor Mighty and Honey are going to be teased from here on out._

 _Special thanks to MysteriousGirl92 for Tangle's team name, "Team Justice"._

 _Originally, the Eggman Empire was supposed to escape from Nocturne in the next chapter, but I figured karma should bite them for what they've done to Synergy._

 _Response to TheLostEternity: Poor Vector. He REALLY doesn't want the Hooligans to be good guys. That would be bad news for his business. I am glad the fight between Sonic and Synergy was fun to read. It was fun to write and I thought it would add some tension/fun to the story. Let's see if the Hooligans can keep up this peaceful act. Saving Espio and Blaze was only icing on the cake. Dr. Eggman is hoping Sonic would trash the Nocturnus Clan, so that he can break out and take over the world. But we'll have to see how that goes for him. I am glad to respond to your comments because they're awesome! Thank you for your reviews on both Awakened and Sonic Heroes: The Atom Bomb! You make my day when I see your comments. I will stay safe and I wish the same for you :)._

 _That's all I have to say, everyone. Thank you all so much for reading! Don't forget to R &R! I'm The Sensational SpiderDom321 and I'll see you all next time!_

 _~SD321 (SpiderDom321)_


	37. Angel Nocturne: Part 4

_**A/N:** Welp, here we are, everyone. The final entry in the Angel Nocturne story arc. I gotta say, it's been fun writing these past few chapters. After the emotional roller coasters of Chapters 31-33, it's finally time the Resistance got their chance to strike back. Only, they didn't expect to be taking down the Nocturnus Clan. Let's see how the final part goes down, ladies and gentlemen. Thanks to Infinite's Ruby once again, now let's get on with the show! :)_

 _ **Suggested Music:**_

 _ **(1) Death Egg Mk. ll - Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2 OST**_

 _ **(2) Magolor Phase 1 Theme - Kirby's Return to Dreamland OST**_

 _ **(3) Change - Steven Universe: The Movie OST**_

 _ **(4) Open Your Heart - Sonic Adventure OST**_

 _Without further ado, enjoy the show!_

* * *

 **Angel Nocturne: Part 4**

Above the skies, heroes and villains are proving who's the strongest. But a humble person like Vanilla the Rabbit chose to sit near her home. There was a bench near her cabin in Floral Forest Village, which she sat thinking about how the battle is going. Part of her was nervous that Cream and G-merl would be mercilessly killed by the Nocturnus Clan, but the optimist in her heart kept telling her to believe. She was well aware of Cream's previous adventures with Sonic and the others, and she also knew G-merl was there to protect her. But her mind was rambling, trying to pick a side to her internal debate.

As she sat alone, she heard someone creak the front door open.

Stepping outside was none other than Chocola, who flew up to his owner's lap and sat down, cuddling beside her stomach. Gazing into her eyes, the chocolate-colored Chao smiled and pressed his hands together.

"Chao, Chao," Chocola spoke as if to tell her everything was going to be okay.

Vanilla, who didn't know what he was saying, could tell by Chocola's gestures that he tried to reassure her. From there, she let out a soft laugh and patted the Chao's head, making him close his eyes in satisfaction.

"You're right, Chocola," Vanilla spoke softly. "Cream and G-merl are both brave; they're my children. But I can't help but worry about them."

She looked up at the beautiful night sky, the darkness was illuminated by billions of stars. The moon was shining bright.

"Cream, G-merl, please come home safe," Vanilla said, as she lost herself in the night.

* * *

Deep within the citadel, G-merl, Cream, and Big raced through a crowd of Marauders and blew them away with ease. G-merl teleported behind a few echidnas and tapped them on their shoulders.

"Peek-a-boo! I see you!" G-merl playfully mocked the soldiers, as he knocked them out cold.

Cream flew through the air and kicked several Marauders in their faces.

Big, using his super strength, picked up soldiers and tossed them over his shoulders. Once they landed on the ground, they fell unconscious. He grabbed his fishing rod and regrouped with his friends. "I don't like this place. It's scary. I remember being here."

"Me too, but don't worry, Mr. Big," Cream held the cat's hand. "We'll be okay. G-merl, are the Chaos Emeralds around here?"

"They should be close," G-merl replied.

The three of them walked down a hall, listening to the beeping of the emerald tracker. As they walked closer, the beeping was faster and faster. Eventually, it made a solid sound, indicating that the Chaos Emeralds were close by. Turning to the right, the heroes were met with a striking sight.

All seven emeralds surrounded a suspicious device. It was a silver machine with gold details on it. On the very stop sat a massive green ball of energy.

"Oh, shiny," Big gushed over the energy orb.

"W-what is that?" Cream inquired.

"I don't know, and I don't want to find out," G-merl answered. "Let's grab those Chaos Emeralds before-"

A dark voice interrupted the Gizoid. "If you value your lives, you'd step away from those emeralds."

The gang turned around and saw Metal Sonic with his claws extended.

"Oh, for Chaos's sake," G-merl rolled his eyes. "After getting captured by Synergy, Eggman has the nerve to send you after the Chaos Emeralds? When's he going to learn to quit?"

"I am programmed to follow the Doctor's orders, no matter how ridiculous they seem," Metal Sonic replied. "Do not interfere with my mission, G-merl, or else, you will-"

 _ **WHAM!**_

A blast of Chaos Energy shot Metal Sonic forward. The robotic doppelganger tumbled across the floor before he landed in front of Cream and G-merl. The heroes looked up and saw a newcomer arriving at the entrance…

…it was Synergy.

"I knew it wouldn't take long for the three of you to arrive," Synergy scoffed. "Emerl, welcome back to Nocturne. I'm glad you've brought guests with you. Especially you, Big."

"Synergy, please," Big bowed his head. "I know Dr. Eggman tricked you and I'm sorry I wasn't there for you. Please don't do this. You know this is wrong."

"Wrong? I'll tell you what's wrong. The fact that you said in that video you hope you'll never meet someone like me!"

"That was before I met you."

"What?"

"You showed me that you're not an evil robot. When I accidentally fished you out of the water, I thought you were going to hurt me. But after I showed you how to fish, you seemed to enjoy it. Yeah, you lied to me and tried to hurt me a few times, but I didn't leave you because I knew there was good in you. That's why I wanted to take you around the world. It was to show you that there's more to life than working for a mean man like Ix."

Synergy was silent.

"I know you're a good person, Synergy," Big smiled. "Don't let Eggman and Ix turn you into someone you're not."

The Gizoid stood alone, looking at the Warp Topaz on his hand. He thought about what the cat said and clenched his fists. "I'm sorry, Big. But after what I saw, I cannot forgive you so easily."

Metal Sonic jumped up. _ **(1)**_

"If all four of you wish to die for your friends, then come!" Synergy hollered, as he charged into battle.

G-merl pushed Cream and Big out of the way, as he was tackled by Synergy and pinned against the wall.

"Are you kidding me!?" G-merl snarled. Synergy threw a punch, but at the last second, G-merl teleported, reappearing behind Synergy. He grabbed Synergy's arms and flew upward. Then, he divebombed to the ground, slamming Synergy into the concrete. "Don't make me do this, Synergy! You're better than this!"

"If I had a nickel every time I heard that today," Synergy rolled his eyes, sucking himself through the Warp Topaz's portal. He showed up behind G-merl and slapped him across the cheek.

"Leave him alone!" Cream shouted. She and Cheese ran forward and attacked Synergy at full strength. Surprisingly, the rabbit was quick enough to evade all of the robot's punches. And with the help of her bulky friend, she was able to trap Synergy; Big wrapped his arms around him.

"I don't want to hurt you, Synergy," Big pleaded.

"Get off of me!" Synergy snarled, as he broke free of Big's grasp and shot him in the chest with Chaos Spears. He then rushed towards Cream with his arm pulled back. But as soon as he landed the hit, G-merl's fist blocked him.

"No one touches my little sister!" G-merl flipped Synergy over and held him down, giving Cream and Cheese a chance to strike. The two of them exchanged fiery blows until G-merl fired an uppercut against Synergy's back.

As soon as the Gizoid fell towards the ground, G-merl and Cream pulled their arms back, landing a double-fisted uppercut. Synergy landed against the wall. The two combatants exchanged a fist-bump.

Meanwhile, Metal Sonic was going for the emeralds. Before he could touch them, Big wrapped Metal Sonic's leg with a fishing string.

"I don't think you should be doing that," Big said.

"Let go of me, you idiot!"

G-merl punched Metal Sonic across the face. "Hey! That's my friend you're talking to!"

"Enough!" Synergy shot a Chaos Blast that blew Cream, G-merl, Big and Metal Sonic away from the machine. All four of them landed against the wall, laying on their backs.

"G-merl, I hate to suggest this, but what if we worked with Metal Sonic to stop Mr. Synergy?" Cream suggested. "Fighting each other won't work, so we might as well work together."

"Smart idea, Cream," G-merl nodded. "Hey, Metal. Wanna help us fight Synergy?"

"Negative," Metal Sonic replied. "My programming shall not allow me to work with puny fighters like you. I shall stop Synergy myself."

Metal Sonic charged up his boosters and glided towards the Gizoid. But he was sucked into a wormhole and appeared behind Synergy. From there, the Chaos hybrid was ruthless with his attacks, as he made sure to unleash his fiery rage. Finally, he grabbed Metal Sonic, spun him around, and slammed him against the same wall everyone else was at.

" _I shall stop Synergy myself,_ " G-merl mocked his enemy. "How's that working out for you?"

"Fine," Metal Sonic rubbed his arms. "You win. We shall work together to stop Synergy."

"Glad you see it my way, buddy," G-merl tapped Metal Sonic's head. "Let's do it to it, everyone."

Getting up, the four teammates stood side by side before continuing their battle with Synergy. _**(1s) (2)**_

* * *

"Are we done talking?" Knuckles pounded his fists.

"I guess so," Shade answered.

"I _know_ so," Imperator Ix clenched his fist, twirling his scepter. "You're going to stop me, aren't you? Come on, show me what you're made of."

Knuckles and Shade prepared for their showdown with Imperator Ix.

The battle ignited once the Shade attacked first. Having a mindset on revenge, she lashed out at her former master with her Leech Blades. But instead of hitting him in the face as she planned, her master deflected most of her blows with his scepter. But she managed to pierce his body armor and land a scratch across the helmet. Imperator Ix leaped back and slammed his former general against the ground. Knuckles shouted in concern, as he leaped up and slammed the ground, creating a shockwave. Imperator Ix lost his balance for a brief moment. To which, Knuckles tackled him and pinned him to the ground, landing thousands of punches on the echidna's face.

"You're gonna pay for what you've done, Ix!" Knuckles snarled, landing more blows. "You killed most of my people and now you have the nerve to hijack the Master Emerald!?... _TWICE!?_ "

"Impotent runt," Imperator Ix sparked electricity on his hands, stinging the echidna off of him. "Need I remind you that it was Synergy that made this possible. If you should be yelling at anyone, it's him. I'm simply fulfilling my goals."

Shade clashed her blades against his scepter. The two of them fenced around the shrine.

"Of course you'd throw your own creation under the bus!" Shade grunted, kicking her master's chest. "It shows that you care for no one except yourself!"

"Why would I care about a generic war machine? Yes, he did make this happen. But why does it matter in the end? I know the Resistance will destroy him, but even that won't matter because I'll destroy them too."

The two echidnas continued their brawl.

"It's such a shame you chose the wrong side, Shade," Imperator Ix chuckled, blocking her attacks. "I would've loved to see you rule by my side."

"I don't know if you've ever been in a fight before, Ix," Shade punched her old master's face. "But there's usually not this much talking!"

"You're right… there isn't."

Imperator Ix slammed his staff against the ground, sending a tsunami of energy on top of Shade. She felt like glass being slammed against the ground because she swore she heard her bones crack as soon as she impacted the stone beneath her. Knuckles helped her up on her feet before the two of them rushed into battle. Throwing a grenade at Imperator Ix, Shade blinded him before the two echidnas fired an uppercut, sending the leader flying into the air.

"Take this!" Knuckles shouted, as Shade cupped her hands together and boosted him into the air. Knuckles pulled both of his fists back and drilled into the overlord's stomach. They crash-landed against the ground; Imperator Ix felt the most pain. Suddenly, Knuckles punched the white echidna, but Imperator Ix jumped up and tackled the echidna. The two of them fell down the stairs of Shrine Isle.

"Knuckles!" Shade cried with concern, as she quickly rushed down the steps.

Once the two echidnas stopped, they rolled across the grass.

Imperator Ix was the first to get up, so he approached Knuckles and grabbed him by the dreadlocks, holding him tight. "If you value his life, Shade. You'd stop at-"

Shade was too quick and landed a kick across the white echidna's forehead. "Nice try, Ix! You're not doing that to me!"

Helping Knuckles get up, Shade tapped his shoulder and sneered at her old master.

Imperator Ix growled. "I grow tired of this! _DIE!_ "

Sending bolts of electricity merged with beams of energy, Imperator Ix prayed to the Mobian Gods above that he'd kill both echidnas in an instant. But of course, they didn't listen to him because Knuckles and Shade deflected every single blast and tackled the overlord. Sharing untamed hits from left and right, Knuckles and Shade were sure they could win if they kept this up. But to their surprise, Imperator Ix teleported away from them. He appeared behind them and blasted them with a ball of cyan energy.

But Knuckles and Shade landed on their feet.

"Persistent little pests," Imperator Ix scoffed. "No matter how hard you try, you can't defeat me! I am immortal! I can never be vanquished!"

"Did he just call himself God?" Knuckles whispered to Shade's ear.

"You're surprised?" Shade inquired.

"It's worthless," Imperator Ix announced. "Both of you are powerless against me. Well, you'll be more powerless once I do _this_."

With the snap of his fingers, Imperator Ix teleported on top of the Master Emerald. From there, he summoned green sparks of electricity from the gemstone.

"Using the Master Emerald's power, huh?" Knuckles clapped his fists. "I'm _so_ gonna rip him a new one!"

"Come and face the inevitable!" Imperator Ix fired sparks of Chaos Energy at his foes.

The two echidnas rushed forward.

* * *

On the battlefield, Sonic, Tails, and Amy battled their way through hordes of masked echidnas and robots. They eventually came to a stop once they met Tangle, Whisper, Silver, Blaze, and Jewel. They weren't in trouble. In fact, they were dealing with a small fraction of bad guys. Even though it was obvious they didn't need backup, the colorful trio decided to help them anyway. When Sonic curled into a ball, Amy slammed him into a group of Marauders, as Tails finished things off with his Arm Cannon. Silver and Blaze used their powers to send Gizoids into their doom whereas Tangle, Jewel, and Whisper scared off their enemies; they were fighting so hard that some of the Marauders retreated.

Soon, everyone regrouped.

" _Phew!_ " Tangle wiped her sweaty forehead. "I'm glad things are working out in our favor, but _man!_ I. Am. Beat!"

"So, after we get the Chaos Emeralds, what's our plan?" Blaze inquired. "Are we going to destroy Nocturne or somehow send it back to the Twilight Cage?"

"I don't think there's a way we can do the latter unless we wanna abuse the Master Emerald," Sonic shrugged. "We could blow it up. That seems to be our solution to almost everything."

"Or maybe we could use Chaos Control?" Tails suggested.

"Hmm?" Sonic and Amy raised their eyebrows.

"Sonic, remember how you and Shadow used Chaos Control to stop the Ark from crashing onto Mobius?" Tails asked. "What if we do the same for Nocturne? Of course, we'd have to wait until Knuckles and Shade disconnect it from Angel Island."

"Using Chaos Control could work," Sonic stroked his chin. "I'll go Super Sonic and send this city out of here!"

"Wait, what if you get killed?" Amy gasped.

"No, I won't, Amy. I go Super Sonic most of the time and I come out fine. I'm tired, but fine."

"That's not what I mean. When you and Shadow used it to get rid of the Biolizard, Shadow was nearly killed. We thought he was dead, but he came back years later. What if you meet the same fate as Shadow or worse… what if you actually get killed?"

Sonic placed a hand on Amy's shoulder. "Ames, calm down. I'll make sure I come back. I promise. Besides, we have some time to sort this plan out."

"Sonic's right," Silver chimed in. "Knuckles and Shade haven't reported in yet, so they must be searching for the Master Emerald. That, and we need G-merl's team to get the Chaos Emeralds. Speaking of the two teams, I hope they're okay."

* * *

In the citadel, the unlikely alliance between G-merl, Cream, Big, and Metal Sonic was working…

…to an extent.

The teamwork between managed to weaken the Gizoid for the most part, but thanks to the Warp Topaz, Synergy got the upper hand. He exacted his revenge upon Big, G-merl, and Cream, but he also made sure he let Metal Sonic suffer the wrath of his rage. The robot had suffered a lot in the past few days, so he wanted to unleash his anger upon those who wronged them. The Resistance prevented the return of the Nocturnus Clan and the Eggman Empire tried to turn him into a slave. With fast-paced punches and heavy jabs, Synergy blew all four combatants away from him.

G-merl landed on his feet, catching a wounded Cream in his arms.

"You okay, Kiddo?" he inquired.

"I'm okay, G-merl," Cream replied. "I'm not hurt too bad, thankfully. How are we going to stop Mr. Synergy? He's too strong for all of us."

Big rolled near his friends whereas Metal Sonic was bashed against the wall.

G-merl cracked his fingers. "I know the _real_ Synergy is still inside, so we're gonna have to get him out. Cream, Big, huddle up. I have an idea."

Metal Sonic ignored the three combatants and boosted into Synergy's chest, pounding him into the wall. But thanks to the magic gemstone, Synergy reappeared behind Metal Sonic and homed in onto him; he homing attacked him three times before punching him against the ground.

"Once I'm finished with you, the Eggman Empire and the Resistance shall suffer my wrath!" Synergy growled.

"Once I collect those Chaos Emeralds, I'll rip you to shreds!" Metal Sonic retorted.

Metal Sonic and Synergy continued their fight, as the others came up with a plan.

Cream, Big, and G-merl stood together, watching Metal Sonic throw Synergy onto the ground. The Gizoid landed near the three heroes ad quickly got up. Clenching both of his fists, he shot a Chaos Spear at Metal Sonic and headed towards the others. _**(2s) (3)**_

"For the Nocturnus Clan, you shall perish!" Synergy announced.

The black/yellow robot glanced at both of his friends. Sharing a nod, their plan was put into motion.

Synergy landed on the ground and threw an armada of punches at them, but all three dodged in sync and moved to the side. Synergy geared towards G-merl, throwing the same amount of attacks at him, but despite moving fast, he couldn't land a single hit. Frustrated, he attempted to attack him one more time before G-merl teleported, reappearing behind Synergy. But even then, G-merl kept dodging Synergy's attacks.

"Hold still!" Synergy shouted.

Cheese tapped the angry mech on the shoulder, waving with a smile.

"Come here!" Synergy clapped his hands, trying to squish the Chao. Cheese flew back to his best friend, as Synergy attempted to attack her as well. But just like G-merl, Cream nonchalantly sidestepped in all directions. Cream suddenly placed her foot out when she saw Synergy run forward. He tripped on his feet, landing towards Big. "I know you'll be easy to hit!"

Synergy couldn't be any more wrong.

Like the others, Big was agile enough to dodge every attack landed by Synergy. He was even fast enough to evade the Chaos Blasts and spears.

Metal Sonic leaned upward, wondering what the others were doing.

Synergy clapped his hands, forming a ball of Chaos Energy. It didn't take him long to shoot it at all three combatants. G-merl nodded to Cream and Big once again before all three of them moved away from the energy ball.

"Fight back!" Synergy hollered, extending his Chaos Claw. G-merl and Cream moved away from it. "Why won't you all fight back!?"

"Because there's nothing to fight for, Mr. Synergy," Cream replied.

"What!? You're not going to fight for your world? For your team?"

"That's not what we meant," Cream answered with a low sigh, dodging another attack. "We're not going to hurt _you_. Even though you're being very mean, we're not going to fight you anymore."

"Why!?"

"Let me ask you something, Synergy," G-merl chimed in. "How did you end up in the Sylvania Castle Zone? Do you remember?"

"I-I don't know! The last thing I remember, the island was being sucked into a black hole in the sky. I was struck with a bolt of lightning and I was awakened in a different location."

"And have you ever wondered why Ix and the others haven't come to find you?"

Synergy stopped throwing his attacks. "W-what!?"

"If you claim you're so important to Ix and the others, why didn't they come for you?" G-merl inquired. "They're your family, right? Why didn't they look for you?"

"They… they…" Synergy couldn't think of a response. "I-I'm sure they looked for me. It's just that… they were probably… doing… something else."

G-merl shook his head. "No, Synergy… they didn't come looking for you. Well, they might have, but if they did, they certainly didn't bother to fix you. Even though you were awakened on accident, it was the first time in decades where you felt alive. Yes, you did have a desire to find the Nocturnus Clan, but you stuck around with Big, the others, and I for a long time. We took you in for a bit, taught you about how our family works, and showed you places around the world. Would the Nocturnus Clan ever do something like that? I don't remember them doing that."

Synergy was frozen.

"Synergy, I'm not going to sugar coat this," G-merl continued. "But to Ix, you're just scrap made to do his bidding. I was the same way… now, look at me. I have a family and friends who care for me… you can have that too. I'm going to force you to become friends with us again, but you have a choice. You can either say with a family that doesn't care for you, or you can go where the wind takes you." _**(3s)**_

The Chaos hybrid didn't say a word. He registered everything that was heard and unclenched his fist. The Warp Topaz stopped glowing and he looked at it. Closing his eyes, he pressed his hand against his chest and shook his head.

G-merl, Cream, and Big approached him.

"Synergy," G-merl continued. "We-"

 _ **SNATCH!**_

"What the!?" G-merl raised an eyebrow, as everyone looked to the right. Metal Sonic snatched all of the Chaos Emeralds and placed them in a metal case. Glaring over at his enemies, he waved them goodbye before taking off.

"Metal Sonic's getting away!" Cream cried.

"You and Big go after him, I'll catch up!" G-merl said.

The rabbit and the cat took off in an instant.

Both Gizoids were left alone.

"You have to make a decision, Synergy," G-merl told him. "Stay with the creators that want to destroy everything you saw, or help us save the world you saw for three days?... Whatever you choose is up to you."

The black/yellow Gizoid chased after the cat and the rabbit.

Synergy was left alone, pondering his thoughts. He stared at the Warp Topaz one more time before he closed his eyes. Internally, he said, _Am I really doing the right thing?_

* * *

"Knuckles, Shade, you two might as well give in. You're powerless against me!" Imperator Ix cackled, as he continued firing sparks of Chaos Energy at his foes. Shade was the most injured from the blasts, as Imperator Ix held the biggest grudge against her. Knuckles was able to take the heat, but even he was running low; he was getting tired. The red echidna watched as Shade was flung against the tree. Imperator Ix raced to her location, grabbed her, teleported back to Shrine Isle, and held her up by her neck. "Such a disappointing display. I taught you better than this, Shade."

"Let her go!" Knuckles demanded.

"Poor choice of words, Knuckles."

With that, Imperator Ix chucked the orange-furred warrior over his shoulder.

" _SHADE!_ " Knuckles bawled with fear, as he landed a punch across the overlord's face, and took to the skies. He glided around faster than light, hoping to reach Shade before she fell off the edge of the shrine. Luckily, he caught her just in the nick of time. Setting her down, he observed her coughing. "Are you okay?"

"I-I'm fine," Shade coughed.

" _Grr!_ It's hopeless! He has control over the Master Emerald! There's no way we can beat him!"

"I didn't come back just to see you quit. There has to be a solution," Shade replied, getting up. "And I think I thought of a solution."

"What is it?"

"Knuckles, you can control Chaos Energy, correct?"

"Yeah. Granted, I haven't gone super in a long time if that's what you're asking."

"Knuckles, I hate to suggest this, but if we want to defeat Ix. You're going to need to use the Master Emerald's power. I'll provide a distraction; you use the emerald's power and finish things off."

"What!? No, I'm not doing that! What if he kills you?"

"If I die… I'll die knowing I forgave myself for my mistakes," Shade smiled.

Knuckles froze. He was hesitant about the plan.

"Knuckles," Shade spoke softly, holding his hand. "Do you trust me?"

"Of course I do," Knuckles mirrored her gesture.

"Then trust me enough to pull this off. If I die, it's been an honor working with you… and it's been an honor being your friend."

While he was still skeptical of the plan, Knuckles nodded in agreement. He and Shade fist-bumped before they jumped back to the shrine. Imperator Ix sat and waited for them.

"Back already?" the white echidna laughed. "Have you come to surrender yourselves?"

"Remember the plan," Shade whispered to Knuckles before she turned her attention to Imperator Ix. "Let's finish this!"

Unleashing her Leech Blades, Shade tackled her master and the two rolled down the shrine's stairs. Shade kicked her former master off of her and he crashed into a tree. But Imperator Ix swiped his scepter, smacking Shade across the face.

As they fought, Knuckles approached the Master Emerald. "Okay, Master Emerald. I'm sorry that I wasn't here for you. I needed to help my friends with a deadly war. But now, I'm back. And I need to make things right. I've got someone who needs me, so let's make this quick."

The red echidna closed his eyes and widened his arms.

Shade landed three punches before she was blasted in the chest.

Knuckles recited Tikal's prayer, "The servers are the seven Chaos."

Imperator Ix slammed Shade against the dirt.

"Chaos is power… Power enriched by the heart."

Shade blinded Imperator Ix with a smoke grenade and landed an uppercut.

"The controller," Knuckles opened his eyes and his pupils were glowing green. " _Is the one that unifies the Chaos!_ "

Imperator Ix smacked Shade to the side, glaring at the red echidna. He was sparking with Chaos Energy.

" _NO!_ " the overlord shouted with fear. Twirling his scepter, he rushed up the stairs. " _That emerald is_ _ **mine!**_ "

 _ **KRAKOOM! (4)**_

A streak of green lightning struck down on the overlord which sent him flying onto the grass, landing beside Shade. The latter jumped up and moved to the side, looking to see if Knuckles was okay…

…he was _more_ than okay.

A burst of green lightning jumped off of the shrine and it landed on the ground, revealing itself to be Knuckles. His pupils were green, and his fists were blowing energy of the same color. He smiled at Shade before he glared at his opponent.

Imperator Ix was stunned.

"I'm gonna give you one more chance," Knuckles clapped his fists. His voice echoed as he spoke. " _Get off my island!_ "

Round two of the fight began when Imperator Ix fired a blast of cyan energy at both echidnas. With his invulnerability, Knuckles deflected the blast and stretched his neck. Rushing forward, Knuckles landed powerful uppercuts and punches across the overlord's face. He slammed his knee into his chest and tossed him towards Shade. Placing her goggles on, the orange-furred combatant volley kicked her old master, sending him crashing against the stairs.

Imperator Ix growled and shot more cyan energy balls at both echidnas.

Knuckles and Shade shielded themselves, as they leaped into combat.

* * *

The battle took a turning point thanks to G-merl's plan because the Resistance was fighting their way through enemies with ease. This time, Team Chaotix and Team Hooligan regrouped with the rest of the Resistance and assisted them in their invasion. Sonic, Tails, and Amy worked together to form a tornado that had the colors of their fur. They sent Marauders flying into the air, leaving Charmy to thunder shoot Espio and Vector into them.

Landing on the golden floor, Espio took advantage of his ninjutsu and disarmed multiple soldiers.

"It's working," the chameleon smiled. "We can win this!"

"Espio's right!" Tangle leaped into the conversation. Joining her were Whisper and Jewel. "The Resistance is gonna win! Let's assemble and finish this off!"

"Don't get too excited," Amy calmed the lemur down. "We still need to wait for G-merl and Knuckles. I hope they're okay."

"Don't worry about them, Amy," Sonic smiled, roundhouse kicking a Gizoids Guardian. "I know both teams and they're awesome! In other words, I know they'll be okay."

* * *

Knuckles and Shade resumed their battle, but Imperator Ix snapped his fingers and commanded his own spark of Chaos Energy. Shooting it forward, he hoped it would stab Knuckles through his heart. Before the guardian could deflect the blast, Shade jumped in front of him and took the blow for herself.

"Shade!" Knuckles shouted in concern.

The orange echidna tumbled across the dirt, bumping into a tree.

Her eyes were closed, and her body laid motionless; she was unconscious.

Knuckles clenched his fist. "You'll pay for that, Ix!"

"Even with that boost of power, you'll never defeat me! I'm too powerful!"

"Sheesh, you boost your ego so much, I might as well call you Sonic 2.0," Knuckles snarled, as he lunged forward and punched Imperator Ix's face.

Before the overlord could hit him, Knuckles blocked it and counterattacked. This procedure happened at least five times. The guardian was done with this mess, as he picked up Imperator Ix and tossed him away from the shrine. As the overlord flew in the air, Knuckles glided towards him and slammed his fists against his chest, sending him against the ground.

Imperator Ix, face first, landed on the ground.

Knuckles teleported beside the overlord, ready to fight, but Imperator Ix ducked below another punch and shot another blast of energy.

Knuckles' back hit the stairs.

"Give it up, Knuckles," Imperator Ix smiled evilly. His white eyes stared into Knuckles' soul. "You may have the upper hand, but-"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm not gonna beat you," Knuckles moaned sarcastically. "Come up with some new material, buddy."

"You dare interrupt my sentences?"

"You dare show up to my island and hurt my friends!?"

"You dare talk back to me!? I am your ruler; I do not need to be treated with so much disrespect!"

"Oh, _**shut up!**_ " Knuckles launched a heavy uppercut against Imperator Ix's chin.

As the fight continued, Shade slowly opened her eyes. She stretched her arms and cracked her back. As she watched the fight, she took a deep breath and wondered how she was going to help her friend.

* * *

"Tails, look out!" Ray called out, as he jumped on top of a Marauder and punched him. But because of the squirrel's lack of super strength, the echidna grabbed him and slammed him against a debris pile. Ray screamed as the soldier pulled his arm back. But luckily, Tails jumped in and rescued him, knocking the soldier town with his twin tails. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," Tails smiled happily.

The power couple that was Mighty and Ray rode around on the latter's Extreme Gear, as they boosted into the enemies and blew them out of the arena.

Nack drove around on the Marvelous Queen. Bean and Bark stuck to the ground. The former was tossing bombs and the polar bear showed off his barbarian-level strength. Bark clapped his hands against a soldier's head, dazing him. He finished it off by firing an uppercut.

Bean, using his beak, pecked against a Gizoid in the eye.

Mighty and Honey arrived beside the green bird.

"Never thought I'd say this, but nice work, Bean," Mighty smiled. "For once, that annoying duckbill you call a mouth came in handy."

"Wait, what'd you call me?" Bean inquired. "Did you just say I'm a duck? Dude, I'm a woodpecker!"

"Wait, what? I thought you were a duck."

"No, that's what Ian Flynn and Archie Comics want you to think. Wow, I can't believe everyone here thought I was a duck! You're all full of speciesism!"

The duck angrily walked away, leaving Mighty and Honey to share a confused glance. The cat folded her arms and tapped her toes.

"What?" Mighty shrugged. "I thought he was a duck."

Meanwhile, Team Dark cleared out an army of Marauders with the assistance of Diablon. While the commander's drone took off in a heartbeat, fighting more enemies, the three agents met up with the rest of the Resistance.

"Have you guys heard anything from Knuckles and/or G-merl?" Espio inquired.

"Funny, we were about to ask you the same thing," Rouge smiled.

"We haven't heard a word from them," Shadow responded.

But just then, Metal Sonic came racing by the battlefield with the case full of Chaos Emeralds.

"Metal Sonic?" Sonic rubbed his head.

G-merl, Cream, and Big raced past them.

"Metal Sonic must've taken the emeralds!" Tails exclaimed.

"I'll get em'!" Sonic cracked his knuckles, as he ran down the pathway.

"Wait for me!" Silver chased after.

Shadow looked at Rouge. The bat let out a soft chuckle.

"Go," she said.

With a nod, Shadow skated after the two hedgehogs.

"At least we know what happened to G-merl's team," Amy said to Tails. "But what's happening with Knuckles and Shade?"

* * *

Knuckles fought bravely against Imperator Ix, using every ounce of the Master Emerald's power to save his island. With two jabs, an uppercut, and an overhead punch, Knuckles felt the power of the Master Emerald running through his veins, but he didn't feel as powerful as he was before. Because of how much energy he's been wasting, the red echidna realized that he needed to hurry before he transformed back to normal. But he wasn't the only one who knew this.

Huffing and puffing, Imperator Ix glanced up. "I can sense the Master Emerald's power; it's leaving your body by the minute. Soon, you'll be back to your old, weak self."

Knuckles panted, cracking his fists. "I still got some fight left in me."

"But not for long."

Imperator Ix recovered from his fall and ran towards Knuckles. Grabbing each other's hands, the two struggled to push one another off of the shrine. Knuckles' eyes started to turn back to their natural color and the green sparks were returning back to the Master Emerald. Its guardian gasped with worry, as he continued tussling with Imperator Ix.

"You thought you could scare me with this power, Knuckles?" Imperator Ix taunted. "You don't scare me. But you _could_ scare my other enemies in the Twilight Cage."

Knuckles grunted, "W-what?"

"Join me, Knuckles. We're echidnas, right? Shouldn't our species stay united?"

Knuckles shook his head. "Yeah, we're not going through that trope again!"

Kicking Imperator Ix in the stomach, Knuckles knocked him into the air with a spinning back fist. The overlord fell, back first, onto the ground. Before the red echidna could make another move, the power of the Master Emerald left his body. _**(4s)**_

"Huh?" Knuckles raised an eyebrow, looking at the Master Emerald. "N-no!"

 _ **WHAM!**_

A bolt of cyan lightning struck Knuckles down.

Imperator Ix was left standing. He laughed. "I have to admit, you gave me quite a scare, Knuckles. But not even the Master Emerald could outmatch _my_ power. Face it, Knuckles, you and your futile Resistance are nothing. You will all fall before my hand. Is there anything you wish to say?"

The red echidna smirking heavily. He began to laugh.

"Your defeat is humorous to you?" Imperator Ix raised an eyebrow.

"Did you really think I was going to use the Master Emerald to beat you?" Knuckles grinned, wiping his lip. "No, that was just to soften you up."

"What do you-"

" _HARGH!_ " Shade came out of the blue and slashed her foe's battle armor with her twin Leech Blades. She slid beside Knuckles and glared at Imperator Ix. The white echidna's armor was damaged, and he grew tired. He looked at both echidnas, as they shared a nod and a smile.

"Your clan is on the decline," Knuckles clapped his fist.

"And vengeance will soon be mine," Shade chimed in.

Both echidnas finished their rhyme, " _The tables have turned for Imperator Ix!_ "

The overlord raised both of his eyebrows. "What? That doesn't make any- _ARGH!_ "

Knuckles and Shade threw a double-fisted attack, sending their opponent flying into the air. Imperator Ix fell over the shrine and landed on the grass. Laying on his stomach, he realized he couldn't take more of this and looked up at both echidnas. The two stood in front of the green gemstone, waiting for him to get back up.

But Imperator Ix threw in the towel. "This… isn't… _over!_ "

Using his Warp Belt, he teleported away from the shrine, leaving both echidnas alone.

"No… it _is_ over," Shade nodded with a sigh. She then smiled and turned to Knuckles. "Just to let you know, I'm _never_ doing a rhyme like that ever again."

"Come on, it wasn't that bad," Knuckles smirked, folding his arms.

"I think Rough and Tumble are rubbing off on you."

"Don't tell Sonic."

"No promises."

Both echidnas approached the Master Emerald, taking in its shiny, green glow.

Knuckles placed his hand on the gemstone, closing his eyes. "Stay back, Shade. And hold on tight when I say so. Master Emerald, I know you're mad at me for leaving you, but I need you to listen… Nocturne has merged with Angel Island, the home of our enemies from the past. I need you to help me separate the two islands. Can you help me?... Can Tikal help me if she's in there?"

The Master Emerald answered the guardian.

"Thank you," Knuckles replied. "I promise. Once this is over, I'll return to you… okay," he let out a deep breath. "Let's do this."

* * *

Meanwhile on the battlefield, Sonic, Shadow, Silver, Cream, and G-merl chased after Metal Sonic, who planned to take the Chaos Emeralds back to his masters. But as he escaped, a fishing wire wrapped around his leg. The three hedgehogs, the rabbit, and the Gizoid stopped in their tracks, wondering what happened. Soon, they looked over their shoulders and saw Big yanking on the fishing pole.

Metal Sonic lost his balance and was pulled to the ground. As soon as he landed, the silver case flew out of his hands. Silver caught it while Sonic and Shadow spin dashed into Metal Sonic. G-merl and Cream landed beside Big and Silver.

"Nice catch, Mr. Big," Cream smiled.

Big laughed.

Sonic and Shadow roughhoused Metal Sonic before they slammed the robot against a broken pillar.

"What's the matter, Metal?" Sonic smirked. "Not in the mood to fight?"

Shadow had a Chaos Spear in his hand.

"Hand over the Chaos Emeralds," Metal Sonic demanded. "Or I shall-"

 _ **SLASH!**_

Espio jabbed a kunai threw Metal Sonic's chest. "That will be enough from you."

With his systems shutting down, Metal Sonic fell to the ground, lying motionless.

Everyone in the Resistance, except Knuckles and Shade, approached everyone else.

"Hmph," Shadow closed his eyes, smiling slightly. "You stole my shot, Espio."

"I guess you'll have to be quicker next time," Espio replied with the same gesture.

Vector squinted his eyes, watching Marauders and Gizoids retreat. "Wow, take a look at that, boys and girls! We got them on the run!"

"Yeah! Get out of here, you phonies!" Charmy called.

"That'll show them not to mess with us," Ray smiled. Mighty nodded. "But what happened to Knuckles and Shade? Are they okay?"

Suddenly, Amy's Miles Electric went off. She answered it and Shade was on the other side. "Shade, thank goodness! I was about to call you! How are you and Knuckles doing?"

" _We're fine, but you're gonna want to brace yourselves."_

"Why?" Sonic inquired. "What's going on?"

 _ **RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!**_

Nocturne began to shake as if an earthquake was happening. Everyone on the battlefield struggled to keep their balance. The Rookies jumped down on the ground, holding on tight. G.U.N. troops retreated back to their battleships. The ships took off and flew away from the island. As for the Resistance themselves, they did the same thing the Rookies did and hung on tight.

"What's happening?" Mighty called.

"I don't know but hold on!" Amy replied.

Everyone held on tight, as Nocturne began to shift to the right. It moved further and further until it finally stopped. The Resistance lost their balance and fell on their sides. But once they got back up, Tangle pointed to a beautiful sight.

"Look!" she shouted.

The Resistance and the Rookies jumped up, looking to the far left…

…Angel Island stood in the moonlight, free from Nocturne's control.

Smiles were printed on everyone's faces. They got even more excited once they saw Knuckles and Shade gliding towards the island. Landing on the floor, everyone gathered around the echidnas and showered them with cheers and chants.

"Way to go, Rad Red!" Mighty playfully punched Knuckles' arm.

"Nice work, you two," Espio smiled. "A fine display of skill."

"Go Knuckles and Shade!' Ray cheered.

"Awesome!" Charmy clapped his hands.

"You two lovebirds make a good team," Vector patted both of their backs. "Perhaps Mighty and Honey could learn from you two."

"Shut up, Vector," Honey folded her arms.

"Thanks, guys," Knuckles nodded. He noticed Gadget, Fuchsia, and Corvin in the distance. "Gadget, Corvin, Fuchsia, are you guys okay? I'm so sorry I wasn't there before! I didn't think G.U.N. would come after you! I'm so sorry!"

"No worries, Commander," Gadget shook his leader's hand. "We're just glad G.U.N. let us out to help out."

"But now, we're exhausted," Corvin yawned. "Let's get out of here."

"Well, you're in luck," Espio smiled. "Our ride has arrived."

Thanks to Captain Rex, another Restoration Shuttle landed on the edge of the city. The captain himself opened the door and waved to his teammates. "All aboard!"

Sonic turned to his team, "Guess that's my cue. You guys get out of here; I'll take the Chaos Emeralds and send this place out of here for good."

"Hold on," Amy patted his shoulder. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Trust me, Ames. I'll be back."

Silver handed the blue hedgehog the suitcase. "Good luck."

"Thanks, Silver," Sonic winked.

"Let's get everyone on the ship, first," G-merl chimed in.

"Right," Sonic nodded.

Everyone ran towards the shuttle.

* * *

Inside the citadel, Synergy stood in the same stance he did before when suddenly, an injured Imperator Ix entered the room. He was wounded, panting, and struggling to stand on both of his feet. The Chaos hybrid approached his master.

"Lord Ix, are you all right?" he asked.

Imperator Ix shoved Synergy off of him. "Get off of me! I'm fine!"

The echidna approached the window, seeing that all of the heroes were leaving on the shuttle. "They're leaving!? After all that they've done!? No, they won't be getting out of here alive! Project: Synergy, I thought I told you to kill them!"

"I-I apologize, Master," Synergy replied nervously. "I was about to kill G-merl and the others, but I couldn't… they… they… they wouldn't fight back. It wouldn't be fair for me to fight if they wouldn't."

"Useless!" Imperator Ix howled. "Useless piece of scrap! There's a reason why I kept you in that underground tomb!"

Hearing that last sentence, Synergy's eyes widened. What did his master just say?

"W-what?" Synergy inquired. "Master, what as that last part?"

"I made the right choice keeping you stuck in the Sylvania Castle Zone. Granted, you made all of _this_ possible, but even now, you still disappoint me."

"You knew I was locked in the tomb?"

Imperator Ix was silent. He explained, "A few years ago, I sent a squadron of soldiers to Mobius. They were collecting the Chaos Emeralds, so I can bring Nocturne back and rule the world. As they ventured through Sylvania Castle's tomb, they reported seeing a Gizoid that looked just like you. Here's a shock, it _was_ you. They suggested repairing you, but I told them no. Why? Because you were a Gizoid that could easily be replaced. I replicated your powers into two Gizoids named Charyb and Scylla. But even _they_ couldn't meet my standards. Such wastes of scrap."

"But… I was part of the family."

"Pardon?"

"The Nocturnus Clan is my family. Why didn't you bring me back?"

"You consider me and the clan your family?" Imperator Ix laughed as if he was told the funniest joke. "You're such a fool. I think of my soldiers as family, but you? A mere Gizoid like you, family? Ha-ha, you're just scrap made to do my bidding. If you fail, I throw you away. Gizoids like you can always be replaced."

Synergy was frozen hearing all of this. He couldn't believe that Imperator Ix really _was_ evil. G-merl was right, Big was right, Knuckles was right…

…everyone was right about him.

"Since you're too useless to fight the Resistance," Imperator Ix walked towards the machine that housed the Chaos Emeralds. He pressed a button and a gemstone popped out a capsule. Inside it was a Chaos Emerald, but it was orange. He took the emerald out of its chamber and walked out the door, leaving his minion behind. "I'll deal with them myself."

Once he left, Synergy cupped his hands over his eyes. Guilt roamed around his body.

He got down on his knees and slammed the ground.

"What have I done?"

* * *

Outside, Sonic, G-merl, Knuckles, and Silver helped everyone aboard the Restoration Shuttle.

As they helped their friends aboard, the blue hedgehog turned to the black/yellow Gizoid, smiling. "Yo, G-merl."

G-merl turned to Sonic. "What's up?"

Sonic let out a soft chuckle. "I'm not one to dwell on nostalgia, but I gotta say, this whole adventure with Synergy reminded me of when I first met you as Emerl. The moment we met each other; you were just a soulless drone who knew nothing about life. But when we showed you around, you turned out to be a cool guy… when you died, I was sad because I lost a good friend… but now, I got him back and he looks cooler than before."

"I'm flattered, Sonic," G-merl replied. "But is there a point to this?"

"I guess I feel bad we didn't get to spend a lot of time together since you got your new body," Sonic replied, helping Amy on board. "I was wondering if we could hang out sometime. You, me, Amy, Cream, whoever. Try to make new memories together, y'know? Am I sounding too weird?"

"Not at all," G-merl nodded. "I'd love to go on more adventures with you."

As the two exchanged a fist bump, they saw that everyone was on board.

"Good luck, Sonic," G-merl shook the hedgehog's hand. "Come back safe."

"I will," Sonic smiled. But as he grabbed the Chaos Emerald case, his ears flickered; he heard something in the distance. Everyone else heard it too. It was a grunt followed by a whooshing sound. G-merl, Knuckles, and Silver stepped out of the shuttle and stood by Sonic, getting a closer look at what was coming.

Tails, Amy, Tangle, Whisper, and the Chaotix squinted their eyes. They gasped.

Imperator Ix stood in the far distance, holding the orange Chaos Emerald in his hand.

" _ **YOU'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE!**_ " he huffed like a savage animal.

"You," G-merl snarled softly, clenching his fist.

"Ah, you gotta be kidding me," Sonic moaned. "I'll hold him off, you guys get out of here!"

G-merl patted Sonic's shoulder before he grabbed him by the chest and tossed him inside the ship.

"G-merl, what are you doing!?" the blue hedgehog shouted.

"The right thing," G-merl slammed the shuttle's door shut. He grabbed the Chaos Emeralds and flew into the distance. In a few seconds, he landed in front of Imperator Ix. " _IX!_ "

The white echidna stared at the Gizoid.

"Do you remember me?" G-merl snarled. "Because I remember _you!_ "

Imperator Ix squinted his eyes, analyzing the Gizoid's features. His eyes widened and he chuckled. "Project: Emerl… I remember you. You caused the Argus Event. You're the one who caused Nocturne to be banished into the Twilight Cage."

"Why? Was it because I was a powerful Gizoid? Is that why you're mad at me? Did it ever occur that the Mobian Gods were mad at you for being a grade-A jerk!"

"Enough of this nonsense!" Imperator Ix snarled. "It's time I finish this fight between me and the Resistance."

"Wrong, Ix! This battle isn't between you and the Resistance. It's between you…"

A hand placed itself on G-merl's shoulder.

"And _us_." A voice spoke.

 _ **END OF CHAPTER 37**_

* * *

 _Angel Island has been separated from Nocturne, but that doesn't mean the battle is over. The Angel Nocturne story arc may be over, but there's one last battle that needs to be fought. G-merl's making one last stand against Imperator Ix. But he's not alone because someone else has joined the battle. Who is this person? How will they help G-merl in this fight? Find out as the climax concludes in..._

 _"Chapter 38: Dear My Friend"._

 _Ha-ha, you all thought it was gonna be called Angel Nocturne: Part 5, didn't ya?_

* * *

 ** _POST-A/N:_**

 _Even though I am not a fan of Steven Universe, I have been listening to some songs from the movie thanks to a friend. I figured "Change" would be a perfect song to use for the fight against G-merl and Synergy._

 _The final conflict between Knuckles and Imperator Ix is inspired by Sonic Universe: Knuckles Return. There is a scene where Knuckles summons the power of the Master Emerald to take down Dr. Finitevus (who inspired the character of Imperator Ix, but you can tell who didn't take that very well. Thank you, Penders)._

 _The orange Chaos Emerald was an idea that came to me because I was dusting the shelf I keep all of my Jazwares 3 Inch Sonic figures in and as I was cleaning Super Sonic, Super Shadow, and Super Silver, I remember there was a factory error with one of the Chaos Emeralds. Instead of being cyan, it was orange. So, I decided to use that as the source for the story's true final battle. They later re-released the Super Pack with the cyan emerald, but I'm not spending over $100 on it on Ebay._

 _Charyb and Scylla are two Gizoids you find towards the end of Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood. I hate the former because he's in a water level that drains your power points in the first half. Luckily, I made Sonic and Amy unleash my fiery wrath on that guy. I figured I'd squeeze in a reference to them in this story. They actually showed up in the very first Sonic Heroes: The Atom Bomb, but only those who read that story would barely remember._

 _Response to Guest: The big finale has arrived, but let's see if the Resistance can handle Imperator Ix in the next chapter!_

 _Response to TheLostEternity: G.U.N. may be full of themselves in this story, but they did come around in the end. Let's hope they don't backstab the Resistance again. Originally, it was just going to be G-merl, Cream, Big, and G.U.N that arrived for the fight, but I figured others should come along. Poor Ray, he's gonna require an explanation. You bet the teasing is gonna continue. Let's hope Team Eggman stays behind bars this time. Thank you so much for your comments yet again. You're awesome and I really hope you're doing well out there :)._

 _That's all I have to say, everyone! Thank you all so much for reading! Don't forget to R &R! I'm The Sensational SpiderDom321 and I'll see you all for the final battle!_

 _~SD321 (SpiderDom321)_


	38. Dear My Friend

_**A/N:** Well, everyone. Here it is. The final battle we've all been waiting for. Last chapter, G-merl made a stand against Imperator Ix, but he's not the only one. Who's the mysterious voice from behind? Could it be Sonic or a certain Gizoid that changed his motives? Find out in the epic final battle of Awakened! Let's do it to it! By the way, thank you all so much for **160 reviews!**_

 _ **Suggested Music:**_

 _ **(1) Super Sonic vs Perfect Dark Gaia - Sonic Unleashed OST**_

 _ **(2) Dear My Friend - Sonic Unleashed OST**_

 _ **(3) Things to Do Before I Die - Sonic the Hedgehog Movie (2020) OST**_

 _ **(4) No Reason - Sonic Unleashed OST**_

 _Without further ado, enjoy the show!_

* * *

 **Dear My Friend**

"Wrong, Ix! This battle isn't between you and the Resistance. It's between you…"

A hand placed itself on G-merl's shoulder.

"And _us_." A voice spoke.

G-merl turned around and saw the one figure that surprised him. "Synergy?"

The Chaos hybrid himself stood by his companion. Removing his hand from G-merl's shoulder, he clenched his fist, showing off the power of the Warp Topaz. "I don't deserve forgiveness for what I've done… but I wanted to come here and help you fight back. If you're cool with it, that is."

"Why would I mind?" G-merl inquired with a chuckle. "Good to have you back, Synergy."

"I'm not surprised my own creation would betray me," Imperator Ix shook his head, clenching the orange emerald. "It doesn't matter. Two Gizoids don't stand a chance against me."

"What about two Gizoids and a Resistance?" the voice of Sonic entered the conversation.

Both robots turned to their right, watching their teammates join the confrontation. Team Sonic, Team Dark, Team Rose, Team Chaotix, Team Hooligan, Team Justice, Mighty, Ray, and Honey. Everyone stood on top of a broken pillar, smiling down at the two Gizoids. They all jumped down and stood alongside them, staring deep at Imperator Ix.

The white-furred echidna was slightly concerned by the number of heroes ready to fight, but he brushed those feeling aside. "Is there no end to these annoying friends of yours, Emerl?"

"My name's not Emerl," G-merl replied. "He's a piece of me and I'll continue to honor his legacy… _as G-merl_."

"Whatever," Imperator Ix scoffed. "Your name won't matter in the long run. I will burn your Resistance to ashes… _and you along with it!_ "

Using the power of the orange Chaos Emeralds, Imperator Ix clenched it in his hands and sparks of orange energy came out of the gem. Roaming around his body, Imperator Ix looked up into the sky and roared; his teeth were growing into fangs. His dreadlocks began longer, and they started to change their color to black. Speaking of black, every part of his body turned into that exact color. Then, an orange beam of energy came out of the emerald, forming a field around the warlord's body.

"What the?" Shade asked with shock.

"Tails, what's going on?" Sonic asked.

"I-I don't know!" Tails answered. "I've never seen an orange Chaos Emerald before!"

"It's a fake emerald he made using the energy of the other ones," Synergy replied. "He planned to use that for when things got rough!"

"Well, it would've been nice to know that earlier, Synergy!" Tangle grunted.

"I'm sorry! My head wasn't in the right place!"

Imperator Ix's body was completely black and his eyes were purple. The orange emerald was infused into his chest. But that wasn't all.

Around his body was an orange shell of energy that resembled his whole body. Every part of him was orange except for his eyes, which were white. In the middle of the shell was the overlord himself, who controlled the shell by moving his body. He sneered down at the Resistance and roared a loud as a lion. Every hero shielded themselves, as they were slightly blown back by the wind coming from his mouth.

" _ **If you wish to fight as a family, then you will die as a family!"**_ The imperator's voice echoed in a sinister tone. He raised his hefty hand into the air and slammed it down on the ground. But because of how slow it was, everyone got a chance to move out of the way. Chunks of rock and rubble flew into the air.

The heroes regrouped.

"That thing is huge!" Silver gasped.

"And a bit overkill if you ask me," Rouge moaned.

"How are we supposed to stop that thing!?" Vector asked.

"I have an idea," G-merl opened the case, showcasing all seven Chaos Emeralds inside. Everyone knew what he was thinking.

"Wait, how will we use Chaos Control to get rid of the city then?" Tails inquired.

"We'll have to figure that out later, little buddy," Sonic cracked his fingers. "Right now, we got ourselves a dictator to overthrow!"

"I'm done talking. Let's end this now," Shadow grew impatient.

"AFFIRMATIVE. CHARGING PARTICLE BEAM CANNONS AND MISSILES LAUNCHERS," Omega nodded in agreement.

"We've made it this far, let's not turn back now!" Mighty clapped his fists. Ray and Honey cheered alongside him.

"If we focus our spirits, we can win this!" Espio said.

"I'm gonna sting him where it hurts!" Charmy chanted.

Vector stretched his neck. "Yeah! This dude is gonna get worse than a beating from Team Chaotix!"

"The Sol Emeralds should be recharged by now," Blaze announced. "I'm ready to fight!"

"For the fate of the present and future, Imperator Ix shall fall!" Silver scowled.

"My past shall no longer haunt me, let's end this," Shade smiled.

" _ **Fools! Enough of this silly banter! I'll make sure to tear you all limb from limb, starting with you five! Knuckles, Shade, Sonic, G-merl, Synergy! Time to meet your maker!"**_

"I'd like to see you try!" Knuckles got down in a battle pose.

"Your plan's gonna end like Egghead's plans," Sonic mocked the overlord. "With you sitting in a pile of debris wondering how you failed so badly. Ready, guys?"

"Let's do it to it!" G-merl nodded.

Sonic, Shadow, Synergy, G-merl, Silver, and Blaze stood together and closed their eyes. Each of them held out their arms and stretched their fingers. In a few seconds, the Chaos Emeralds and Sol Emeralds gathered around them. But they soon widened their circle until everyone was surrounded by fourteen magic emeralds. Soon, everyone levitated into the air. Sonic, Shadow, G-merl, Synergy, Silver, and Blaze felt an urge of power running through their veins; everyone did.

The fourteen emeralds rotated faster and faster until they all stopped. They donated their power to their masters and a flash of white light blinded Imperator Ix.

Standing in front of him was a mixture of gold light and fiery flames.

Super Sonic, Super Shadow, Super Silver, and Burning Blaze were side by side.

"Whoa!" Super Silver gasped, looking at his bright yellow fur. "Is this what going super looks like? This is so cool!"

"You've never gone super before?" Super Shadow folded his arms.

"I feel like I have, but I can't remember."

The four Mobians weren't the only ones who transformed. G-merl was in his ultimate state aka Ultimate G-merl. In this state, the Gizoid went through a drastic change. His former humanoid body became a large black robotic disk exceeding a meter in diameter, with four extendable grey claw-like hands on his sides. He still has the same color scheme and he had a large red eye. Synergy also went through an ultimate state. But unlike G-merl, his humanoid body remained. But it was much bulkier than before, and his colors were changed to purple and black. His eyes were dark blue, and his fins were green. His hands were larger, and he had gauntlets that doubled as rocket blasters. He had two green and blue wings on his back and his hands were replaced by Chaos Claws.

Ultimate Synergy took a look at his fellow Gizoid, astounded by his look.

"Uh… what the?"

"Yeah, this is my Super State," Ultimate G-merl chuckled. "It's funny looking, but it's cool."

Ultimate Synergy shrugged. "A giant disk is your ultimate form?... I like it."

Everyone else had golden shields around them.

Tangle admired her new source of protection. "Awesome! This is so awesome! Wait until I tell Ron about this!"

Whisper cocked her weapon. _"Focus, Tangle. None of us have gone super before, so let's use this new power wisely."_

"Shiny, shiny, _shiny!_ " Bean gushed over his new power, trying to touch his force field.

Nack loaded his popgun. "Heh, I guess those Chaos Emeralds work on _anyone_. I may need to start collecting them someday. But for now, I guess we gotta do one more round of this hero thing. Can we just get this over with?"

"Yes, Nack," Super Sonic nodded. "Yes, we _can_." _**(1)**_

Without any interruptions, the party of Super Forms charged into battle. Imperator Ix roared into the sky and waited for the heroes to come. As he waited, he charged up a ball of Chaos Energy and chucked it forward.

Super Sonic, Super Shadow, and Super Silver fought back by boosting into the ball. Ultimate G-merl flew in front of them and extended his claws, landing scratches and punches across Imperator Ix's face. The three hedgehogs curled into a three-sided Spin Dash and boosted into Imperator Ix's chest. Screaming in agony, the echidna smacked the three hedgehogs away from the battlefield. He grabbed Ultimate G-merl by his sides.

" _ **You will be the first to die!"**_

"Leave him alone!" Cream shouted. She, Big, and Ultimate Synergy team up together. The rabbit and the cat curled into golden balls and landed in Ultimate Synergy's palms. The Super Gizoid chucked them forward and blasted a laser rocket at his former master's eye.

Cream and Big whacked Imperator Ix's hand, releasing their friend.

And Ultimate Synergy's rockets hit him in the eye.

" _ **Argggh! I'll kill you for this!"**_

"Yip!" Ultimate Synergy swerved underneath a slow-moving punch. He regrouped with the three hedgehogs.

Burning Blaze was with the Chaotix, Mighty, Ray, and Honey. Next to them was Team Justice. Whisper and Jewel flew causally whereas Tangle was enjoying her new abilities. Enjoying them a little _too much_. In other words, she was front flipping, back flipping, and mimicking all sorts of superhero poses.

"This is so awesome!" the lemur laughed.

" _Focus, Tangle,"_ Whisper cocked her weapon and fired a rocket followed by a ball of pink spikes. Imperator Ix snarled at them and swatted heavily. Everyone dodged and Burning Blaze slammed Imperator Ix's chest with a ball of fire. _"Even though we have new abilities, we have to use them wisely. Last time I checked; we have a certain amount of time before we turn back to normal."_

"It would be helpful if we had golden rings flying around," Ray said. "They could assist us."

"Ray, look out!" Mighty called out. He saw Imperator Ix firing a blast of energy at the Chaotix, himself, and the others. The armadillo curled into a ball and homing attacked the echidna's hand. Soon, Team Chaotix curled into balls of golden energy and blasted Imperator Ix's face in all directions.

Super Shadow joined the fight with Rouge and Omega.

"Chaos Blast!" The cream-colored hedgehog snarled, shooting a wave of orange energy at Imperator Ix's eye. But the echidna copied the same move and shooed everyone near him away.

Omega took full advantage of his artillery and unleashed it upon the orange creature. "POWER STATUS HAS BEEN UPGRADED! CHAOS ENERGY ADDED INTO ADVANCED ARTILIARY. IMPERATOR IX SHALL BE OBLITERATED!"

"Nobody except for Sonic, Silver, G-merl, Synergy, and I have Chaos Energy," Super Shadow said, shooting Chaos Spears at the monster. "The Chaos Emeralds just created shields around you. Yes, your abilities have been upgraded; however, it doesn't count as going into a super state."

"You just don't like the way _Super Rouge_ rolls off the tongue, don't you?" Rouge smirked.

"I'll admit. It doesn't sound as cool as _Super Shadow_ ," the Ultimate Life Form smiled softly.

Team Dark joined with Team Sonic and helped them fight.

Team Chaotix, Team Justice, and Team Hooligan fired a golden-colored uppercut against Imperator Ix's chin.

Team Rose joined Ultimate G-merl and Ultimate Synergy, blasting rays of energy at Imperator Ix.

Shade flew around faster than the speed of sound and activated her Leech Blades.

Swerving underneath Imperator Ix's attacks, she slashed his arm, chest, and right cheek. She regrouped with Team Sonic before all four of them were blasted by orange Chaos Energy.

"I've always wanted to fire a super punch," Mighty snickered, as he charged up his fist and slammed Imperator Ix's right foot. The giant monster moaned and rubbed his injured toe as if he was a cartoon villain getting hurt. He smacked the armadillo to the right, blocking Team Justice's shots.

" _ **Impotent runts!"**_ The monstrous warlord huffed. _**"Your power means nothing to me!"**_

"What about this power, Mate?" Nack smirked. He shot a cork from his popgun and hit Imperator Ix in the head…

…it did nothing.

The weasel was nervous. "Welp, I guess Chaos Energy doesn't do squat for me."

Like an insect, Nack was thwacked across the face and she skyrocketed into a pillar. Thanks to his golden shield, he wasn't as hurt as he should be.

Thankfully, Bark and Bean avenged him by landing powerful punches across Imperator Ix's face.

The party of heroes banded together and continued fighting.

* * *

Aboard the main G.U.N. Airship, a soldier ran past the Eggman Empire's cell and rushed towards Commander Tower, tapping him on the shoulder.

"Commander, we just received word from Gadget of the Resistance," he said worryingly. "The Resistance isn't aboard the Restoration Shuttle."

"Oh! Did they die?" Dr. Eggman asked excitingly

"What are they doing?" Commander Tower asked.

A group of computer experts accessed the security cameras from below and showcased a video of all of the heroes fighting against the creature known as Imperator Ix. Every soldier and Eggman Empire lackey was stunned by the amount of Chaos Energy flying around the battlefield. Dr. Starline was amazed by the fight, as he stroked his bill and adjusted his glasses.

"Imperator Ix created a fake Chaos Emerald using the other seven as a power source!" one scientist reported.

Dr. Eggman snapped his fingers. "Why didn't I think of that?"

"Sir, what should we do?" a soldier asked. "Should we fire an airstrike on Nocturne? I think it will help get rid of Imperator Ix?"

"No!" Commander Tower replied. "We're not launching an airstrike on Nocturne."

"But sir-"

"I'm _not_ going to endanger the Resistance as I did before! Keep an eye on them and let me know if they need backup! That's an order!"

"Yes, sir!"

As the soldiers watched the video, Commander Tower folded his arms, smiling. As he observed the fight, he noticed something in the middle of the orange shell. A black-furred Imperator Ix was moving towards the head of the shell. As he moved, he controlled the shell's movement.

"Wait a minute," Commander Tower pressed the communicator on the console. "Resistance, can you hear me? Come in, Resistance!"

* * *

Unfortunately, the Resistance was too distracted by the orange-shelled monster to focus on the commander's words, as they all evaded Imperator Ix's blasts. Team Justice and Team Chaotix moved to the left and curled into golden balls, homing attacking the echidna's left foot and his knees. Team Sonic and Team Dark flew around with Shade leading both teams. She guided Team Sonic to the right while Team Dark took the left. They both swung around Imperator Ix's stomach, homing attacking him and blasting waves of golden energy. Imperator Ix swatted at the heroes, missing them by a split second.

Ray grabbed Mighty, swung him around, and chucked him forward.

The armadillo slammed his fist against the orange shell's nose, causing the monster to lose his balance for a split moment. But Imperator Ix suddenly got up and clapped his hands, forcing everyone to be pushed back by orange and purple energy fields.

Team Hooligan stuck with Super Silver and Burning Blaze. But just as they were about to make, Imperator Ix blasted them with waves of energy. With his psychokinetic powers, Super Silver grabbed the fireballs and shot them back, hitting Imperator Ix in the stomach.

"Yes!" Super Silver cheered. "I could get used to this Super State."

Unfortunately, Burning Blaze couldn't say the same. She felt the power of the Sol Emeralds leave her, and she started flying towards the ground. Her golden friend noticed this and became concerned for her safety.

"Blaze!" Super Silver called out.

As soon as she approached the ground, the cat transformed into her normal self. She got down on her knees, exhausted. Super Silver landed on the ground and transformed back himself. But he wasn't paying attention to that, all he wanted to know was if Blaze was all right.

"Blaze, are you okay?" he asked, helping the lavender cat on her feet.

Blaze coughed. "I'm fine. I'm sorry, Silver. Since I used the power of the Sol Emeralds earlier, they haven't been fully charged… and I see I caused you to change back."

Silver looked at his white fur. "Ah, shoot."

"I'm terribly sorry, Silver," Blaze closed her eyes, feeling bad for what she's done.

"No, no, it's not your fault, Blaze," Silver held her hand. "Your safety matters more to me than anything."

The cat princess smiled.

Silver spoke through his communicator. "Guys, Blaze and I are down."

Team Hooligan, after they fiercely attacked the superpowered echidna, transformed back as well. They free fell to the ground until they were caught by Silver's psychokinesis.

"Team Hooligan is down too," Blaze added.

"Aw, nertz!" Nack slammed his hat on the ground.

"Come on!" Bean whined. " _I wanted to be shiny!_ "

Team Justice flew alongside Team Rose and Team Sonic. They listened to Silver and Blaze's comments before they exchanged nods. Watching Ultimate G-merl and Ultimate Synergy go for the head, they swarmed the chest and began lashing out at the overlord, throwing punches, heavy kicks, quick jabs, and powerful overhand punches. They were more than determined to save the day, but the power of the Chaos Emeralds wasn't helping them damage the shields.

Sadly, Team Justice's golden shields disappeared.

"Oh, no!" Tangle called.

Before she could become a lemur pancake, Whisper grabbed her by the tail and used the Hover Wispon to carry them down. Jewel followed behind and they regrouped with Silver, Blaze, and the Hooligans.

"Guess it's just us, guys and gals," Rouge commented.

Omega turned back to normal and fell down to the ground. "WHY MEEEEEEEEE!?"

Rouge observed him levitating to the ground. She rolled her eyes. "Never mind."

Super Shadow and Rouge banded with Team Sonic and Shade. Together, they saw that Team Chaotix turned back to normal along with Honey, Mighty, and Ray. All six of them reunited with the rest of the Resistance. Just as Team Rose went towards the others, Big transformed back to normal and fell towards the ground.

"Big!?" Cream and Amy hollered with concern.

 _ **SWOOP! SNATCH!**_

In a split second, Ultimate Synergy caught Big and kindly set him down.

"Thank you, Synergy," Big smiled. "Thanks for coming back."

"It's good to be back," Ultimate Synergy nodded, getting a good look at the thankful Resistance. "I'll be back soon."

Ultimate Synergy flew up. The only super forms that were left were Super Sonic, Super Shadow, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Rouge, Cream, Ultimate G-merl, and Shade. But even then, Shade transformed back to normal and fell down. But she was grabbed by Knuckles, who set her down with everyone else. Minus one member, the nine heroes had no idea what to do. They looked over at Imperator Ix, watching him slowly walk towards them.

" _ **Half of your puny Resistance has fallen!"**_ The warlord laughed obnoxiously. _**"It's over! Your time has ended! I will destroy everything you love and make you watch! I will rebuild this reality into my own perfect image!"**_

"Is he done?" Super Sonic yawned.

"He's right, half of our team is gone," Amy said in a worried tone. "What are we going to do?"

"None of our attacks seem to have a huge effect," Tails stroked his chin. "It's because he keeps channeling energy from that fake emerald. There has to be a way to drain its power."

Suddenly, Super Shadow received word from Commander Tower. _"Resistance, this is Commander Tower! Come in, Resistance!"_

The cream-colored hedgehog answered the call. "What is it, Commander?"

" _Look inside the shell of that monster. Tell me what you see."_

Everyone looked at the monstrous imperator and saw a black-furred version of him with purple eyes. He was in the heart of the monster and he was moving place to place, controlling every part of the shell. Squinting their eyes, they noticed what the commander was talking about.

"Yeah, we see it," Knuckles chimed in.

" _If you can hit Imperator Ix himself, you should be able to shut down the shell. But you gotta be fast, he's moving around faster than you can think."_

"Hi, Commander. I'm Sonic," Super Sonic joked. "I'm made of goes fast. Have you met me?"

Commander Tower rolled his eyes. _"Find a way to strike Imperator Ix quick enough to shut his shield down. That way, you can drain the power of that emerald with one quick strike."_

"Sounds like a good plan to me," Rouge smirked.

"All right, Team, listen up!" Ultimate G-merl announced. "Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, you guys get the arms. Amy, Shadow, Rouge, you go for the legs and abdomen. Synergy and Cream, you guys are with me."

"You read my mind," Ultimate Synergy cracked his fingers.

"This man is being mean," Cream pressed her hands together. "Let's take him down!"

"Couldn't have said it better myself, Cream," Knuckles nodded with a smile. " _Resistance_ , _**Charge!**_ "

All nine heroes boosted forward until they split into their assigned teams. Team Sonic was the first to attack. They saw Imperator Ix moving for the right arm, but he was moving quick. Both Knuckles and Tails curled into balls and homed in on the arms. As soon as Imperator Ix reached the right elbow, Knuckles and Tails bashed said body part, making the black-furred controller lose his focus. Super Sonic came in and finished the blow, destroying the right arm of the monster. Imperator Ix gasped with fear, as he made his way to the left arm.

But the team of golden heroes traveled faster than he did and performed the same procedure, destroying the left arm of the monster.

"Arms down!" Super Sonic smiled. "Ames, Shadz, Rouge, you're up!"

"What? I don't get a nickname?" Rouge chuckled.

"No worries, Batgirl. I got you,"

"All right, don't push it."

"Sorry."

Amy went for the left leg whereas Super Shadow and Rouge charged for the right. Rouge placed a couple of heart-shaped grenades going from the thigh to the foot. Imperator Ix, desperately, floated towards the right leg, making it move forward. The grenades suddenly exploded, blinding Imperator Ix's sight. Super Shadow clapped his hands together.

"Chaos Control!" he called.

Suddenly, time froze, and Super Shadow curled into a ball. He teleported by the right leg and rapidly attacked Imperator Ix. Unleashing his fury, Super Shadow caused time to restore back to normal. Imperator Ix felt every attack landed onto him, as the right shell's leg suddenly exploded.

" _ **No! What are you doing!?"**_

Imperator Ix moved to the left leg and watched as Amy twirled her hammer.

 _ **"You're just a weakling with a toy hammer! What can you do-"**_

 _ **WHAM!**_

 _ **"W-WHAT THE!?"**_

The left leg was destroyed in an instant. Imperator Ix glared at Amy.

"Oops," Amy chuckled, touching her cheek. "Did I do that?"

Imperator Ix roamed towards the head and used his power to slowly respawn the arms and legs of his creation.

Super Sonic spoke through the communicator. "G-merl, Synergy, Shade, anytime now!"

"Ready for this, guys?" Ultimate G-merl asked.

"You bet I am!" Ultimate Synergy nodded.

"I'll do anything to help you, G-merl!" Cream mirrored Ultimate Synergy's motion.

Curling into spin balls and rolling faster than ever before, Ultimate Synergy and Cream landed safely into Ultimate G-merl's claws. The black/yellow Gizoid kept them in place, as they revved up their spin dashes and charged up their Chaos Energy. It was almost difficult to keep them in place without them flying off to the middle of nowhere, but Ultimate G-merl made sure to hold on tight. He waited for Imperator Ix to get closer.

The shell of the right arm was nearly back to normal.

"Hurry up, guys!" Knuckles called out.

Suddenly, he, Tails, Amy, and Rouge transformed back to normal. So did Sonic and Shadow. Everyone fell onto a nearby tower and slid down the walls, landing near the rest of the Resistance.

Everyone looked at the trio that was left.

"Focus your spirits," Espio nodded.

"You can do it, guys!" Charmy called.

"Show em' what you're made of!" Vector cheered.

Ultimate G-merl heard the cheers from his friends and squinted his giant eye.

Imperator Ix was drawing closer and closer. _**"End of the line, heroes!"**_

"Yeah, it's the end of the line," Ultimate G-merl snarled. " _ **FOR YOU!**_ " _**(1s) (2)**_

Throwing Ultimate Synergy and Cream forward, Ultimate G-merl raced forward, following the two streaks of golden light.

Ultimate Synergy swerved left and attacked the left side of the shell's chest.

Cream shifted to the right and attacked that side.

The real Imperator Ix felt pain on both of his sides and rushed up to the head, where Ultimate G-merl was ready to finish the final blow. But before he could do it, Imperator Ix moved the shell's tiny arms towards the Gizoid, hoping to stop him.

" _ **N-No! Stay back!"**_

But as Ultimate G-merl boosted towards the echidna, he closed his eye and took one last look at his friends down below. He zoomed in on everyone and analyzed their smiling faces. They looked like one happy family. One that he was glad to be part of… and one that he sadly had to leave.

"Synergy, catch!" Ultimate G-merl said, as he pressed a button on his console and dropped a green object from above.

Ultimate Synergy raced forward and caught the object in the palm of his hands. He opened up his fingers and saw that it was Emerl's biodata chip.

"What are you doing!?" Ultimate Synergy called.

"It's yours now. When you get out of jail, put it inside you… that will be the key to having a family."

"W-what!?"

Everyone overheard the conversation through the radio. They all exchanged murmurs about what was happening. Cream was the one that was worried the most.

"G-merl, no!" Cream called.

"G, are you crazy!?" Sonic snarled. "You're _not_ gonna do what I think you're gonna do!"

"G-merl, stop!" Tails shouted.

"What's he doing?" Knuckles inquired.

"He's going to use Chaos Control and get rid of the city!" Amy replied.

"What!?" Knuckles gasped.

"G-merl, don't do this!" Tails shouted.

"Mr. Tails is right, G-merl, please…" the rabbit's eyes began to water. "I… I don't want to lose you."

Ultimate G-merl listened to his little sister sob. Part of him felt bad for doing this, but the other half of him knew this was the right thing to do. "Cream, I know you're sad… but I owe everyone for what I did in the Mystic Ruins. I know you all forgave me, but this is my gift to you… my gift for accepting me into your family. You've all been so kind to me since Tails rebuilt me. Even though I haven't been close to some of you, you're still some of the greatest friends a Gizoid can ask for."

Cream continued crying.

Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy were worried.

Ultimate G-merl continued his message. "Cream, Sonic, Knuckles, Tails, Amy… don't be sad. This is the only way. I owe you all for taking Emerl in and making him the robot he was back then. Thanks to you, Emerl lives within me… it's because of you, I'm the robot I am today… even though this is the end of me, I'll always be in your hearts. Don't think of Synergy as a replacement for me, think of him as a chance of making new memories."

Tails and Amy's eyes grew teary. Sonic and Knuckles were frightened.

Cream wiped her nose and smiled. Her tears grew watery.

"I love you, G-merl."

As soon as Ultimate G-merl penetrated through the head of the shell, his four claws gripped the orange Chaos Emerald. He tugged on it as hard as he can, trying to pull it from the black-furred echidna. But of course, Imperator Ix retorted by tugging on the emerald too. As the two fought over the emerald, everyone watched from below. Tails and Amy were still crying, and Sonic and Knuckles had butterflies in their stomachs. Cream watched beside Ultimate Synergy. Both of them shared the same feelings as Sonic and Knuckles.

Piece by piece, orange fragments of glass rained from the shell. Imperator Ix watched his super form collapse right in front of him. He struggled to get a word out because all he wanted was to get that emerald back into his body. But Ultimate G-merl wouldn't let him. The black/yellow Gizoid shot a wink at the evil echidna before he let out one last message.

"I love you two, Kiddo. _Chaos…_ _ **Control!**_ "

" _ **No, no… NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"**_

The last thing everyone saw was a flash of white light. _**(2s)**_

* * *

On the grassland of Angel Island, the Resistance sat unconscious near the shrine of the Master Emerald. Every single one of them was out cold, exhausted from the battle on Nocturne. The Chaos Emeralds' power left them, so they all reverted back to normal. Cream, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy were the first ones to wake up. They all rubbed their heads and let out tiring yawns. All five of them were glad that the final battle was over, but they were also scared. Scared at the fact that G-merl was gone. He said that he was going to sacrifice himself, but they also thought he'd be like Sonic where he would cheat death and come back from a deadly explosion.

Vector, Espio, and Charmy woke up alongside Mighty, Ray, and Honey. They watched the five friends rush towards the front of the island.

Shade noticed this and ran after them as well.

The three detectives followed the armadillo, cat, and flying squirrel to the shrine as well.

Nack's eyes spun around in circles, as Bean and Bark woke up from their slumber. The three of them stayed where they were as the others ran towards the Master Emerald. Big ran behind them and rushed up the stairs. Much like the Hooligans, Team Dark stayed behind on the grass. Tangle, Whisper, Blaze, and Silver joined their other friends.

Synergy woke up as well, noticing that he transformed back to his old self. He still had the Warp Topaz in on his glove and he gazed at the Master Emerald, seeing that his friends were scouting the island. Joining them, he stood beside the magic gemstone and walked forward, looking into the horizon…

…Nocturne was gone.

But G-merl was nowhere to be seen. _**(3)**_

Cream huffed and puffed, as she pulled out her Miles Electric, hoping to contact her robotic brother. Tapping his name on the screen, she waited for a response.

No answer.

She tried it again, waiting patiently for a reply.

No answer.

Third time's the charm was what she said to herself, as she mashed the call button numerous times. She prayed to the Mobian Gods that G-merl was out there. She was aware that Sonic pulled a stunt like this numerous times and he would always come back. Since G-merl and Sonic shared similarities, she thought the former would magically come back and make a snarky remark.

But there was no answer.

The rabbit set the Miles Electric down, facing the facts. Collapsing on her knees, her eyes watered and tears poured down her cheeks like waterfalls. She closed her eyes and sobbed loudly, burying her face into Amy's chest. The pink hedgehog was upset as well. She got down on her knees and hugged the young rabbit. Tails felt the same way Amy did and did the same thing to Cream. Sonic and Knuckles closed their eyes and lowered their heads in shame, remembering the hero that G-merl once was.

Shade felt the same way they did. She folded her arms and closed her eyes.

Charmy's eyes spawned tears, as he dug his face into Espio and Vector. The three detectives comforted him. Mighty, Ray, and Honey did the same.

Tangle, Whisper, and Jewel wrapped their arms around each other, wiping away tears.

Shadow and Rouge, who were not close to G-merl, but they _did_ remember Emerl, closed their eyes and paid their respects.

Even Nack, Bean, and Bark felt sorrow for this turn of events. Nack and Bark took off their headgear and Bean wiped his eyes, using his scarf as a tissue.

Silver and Blaze mirrored Shadow and Rouge's emotions.

And lastly, Synergy felt guilty. He made the mistake of bringing Nocturne back in the first place, so he thought that _he_ should be the one to make the sacrifice. After all, he showed a lot of respect for the Nocturnus Clan before he found out the truth, so he thought that if _he_ risked his life for his family, it would make sense. But that's not what happened, G-merl was the one who saved the day. He's the reason the world was safe again, he's the reason everyone's still alive, he's the reason Synergy can live to have family…

…but not for long. _**(3s)**_

Angry at everything that's happened, Knuckles glared at the Chaos hybrid and clapped his fists. " _You!_ "

Synergy startled and looked at the echidna.

"You _killed_ G-merl!" Knuckles stomped towards the Gizoid. "It's _your_ fault he's gone! And you have the nerve to keep that biodata for yourself!? When I get my hands on you, I swear to-"

"Stop!" Cream jumped in front of the echidna. "Please stop, Mr. Knuckles."

"But Cream… he killed G-merl. He deserves to be punished."

"No," Cream looked over her shoulder, staring at the robot. She let out a low sigh before she and Cheese approached him.

"Cream," Knuckles took a step forward, but Sonic stopped him.

"Hold on, Knux," the blue hedgehog said gently. "Let's let this play out."

The rabbit stopped once she got close enough to the Gizoid. Synergy slowly turned to her, staring at her brown eyes. The rest of the Resistance watched them look at one another, curious as to what's going to happen. As they sat and observed, Cream sucked up the courage to speak.

"I know G-merl wanted to do this," she said. "It wasn't your fault. He did this so all of us can live our lives, he did this so we can celebrate his life… he did this for you. He believed in you the moment he met you. I will admit, I was scared that you were going to hurt me at first, but G-merl told me not to worry, he and Big are going to do everything in their power to change you… and they did. G-merl wanted you to have a family, that's why he gave you that."

Synergy glanced at the chip.

"I know you made a lot of mistakes, and I know you want to make up for them," Cream continued. "G-merl believes in you… _I_ believe in you."

Everyone shared the same neutral expression.

Synergy looked down at the rabbit.

"With that being said," Cream finished, as she suddenly wrapped her arms around Synergy, embracing him with a hug. "I forgive you."

Everyone was shocked at that last sentence.

Synergy was stunned too. He shared a glance with everyone in front of him before he slowly hugged the rabbit back. Closing his eyes, the two of them hugged for a few minutes before they finally let go.

"Thank you, Cream," Synergy spoke softly. "I know I don't deserve forgiveness, but I promise… I will honor G-merl's legacy."

Shadow and Rouge walked up the shrine, approaching the Gizoid.

"That's sweet of you to say, Kid," Rouge spoke to the robot. "But you still need to held accountable for your actions."

"In other words," Shadow finished, as Synergy looked down, seeing metal restraints around both of his wrists. Rouge pulled the Warp Topaz off of his hand. "You're under arrest."

Closing his eyes, Synergy nodded.

The moment of silence was interrupted by the sound of an airship arriving close to the island. Everyone aboard the shrine walked down and saw the main G.U.N. airship land on the grass. Opening its doors, G.U.N. soldiers stepped out with their weapons in hand.

Nack gulped. "Uh, oh. Are they here to arrest us again?"

"Wait," Commander Tower called, halting the soldiers. He walked down the platform and approached the two commanders of the Resistance: Knuckles and Amy. With his hands placed behind his back, he said, "I want an explanation… now."

* * *

Moments later, different members of the Resistance (Team Sonic, Team Rose, Team Chaotix, Team Justice, Team Hooligan, Shade, Mighty, Ray, Silver, and Blaze) explained every portion of their world adventure with Synergy as well as Big's plan to change him back. Everyone made sure to be specific and not leave out a single detail. As they explained, Abraham Tower felt guilty for his past actions. Finally, Amy was the one who finished the story.

"We couldn't stop Dr. Eggman from kidnapping Synergy," Amy concluded. "That's why he went rogue and brought Nocturne back."

Registering everything he just heard, Commander Tower turned around and saw Team Dark bring Synergy into the airship. They locked him in a cell near the Eggman Empire. The white-haired commander took a deep breath and held out his hand.

"I apologize for my actions, Resistance. I should have thought twice about you being criminals."

"It's what happens when Brenda runs the news media," Sonic quipped.

"Affirmative. Next time, I will think twice before all of you are accused of a crime. Can you forgive me?"

Knuckles and Amy turned to their friends before they held out their hands.

"Apology accepted, Commander," Knuckles shook the human's hand. "Thanks for helping us out. We couldn't have done it without you."

"You guys did most of the work, we just provided some backup. If you ever need anything again, you know who to call." _**(4)**_

Commander Tower ended it at that and approached his airship. Boarding inside, the vehicle took off to the air and boosted into the brink of dawn: the sun was starting to rise.

The Resistance gathered together.

"Good job, everyone," Amy smiled. "We won… we won."

Everyone nodded.

Nack yawned. "Welp, this has been fun, Mates. But me and the boys better get going. See ya later."

"Aww, we're leaving already?" Bean moaned in annoyance. "C'mon! We should stay here and celebrate! After all, we _did_ help save the day! Hey! Maybe we can make a Heroes for Hire business! Everyone's gonna get a kick out of that!"

"Knock it off, Bean," Nack yawned again. He and the others walked to the Marvelous Queen.

Before they left, Team Chaotix walked beside them.

"I'm probably gonna throw up when I say this," Vector said, rubbing his head. "But you guys weren't that bad."

"Agreed," Espio nodded. "But if you commit another crime, Team Chaotix will be there to stop you."

"Yeah, yeah, don't get your ninja panties in a bunch," Bean chuckled.

"I really hope the three of you never become good guys," Charmy folded his arms. "That's gonna make this whole thing worse!"

Team Hooligan jumped on their bike and revved the engine. Nack turned his head to Sonic and lowered his hat. "Let me tell ya something, Sonic the Hedgehog. The next time you need help… call the Babylon Rogues."

With that, the Marvelous Queen took off in the blink of an eye.

"Do you think we'll see them again, Sonic?" Tails asked.

"Probably," Sonic shrugged his shoulders. "The Hooligans are a trio of idiots. I wouldn't be surprised if we _do_ run into them again."

"I should head back to the Mineral Museum," Jewel smiled. "Just to let you know, I probably won't do this again. I hope I'm not being rude when I say this, it's not that I don't want to, it's because-"

"Hey, we understand," Tangle wrapped her arm around the beetle. "You're not combat experienced. No need to apologize."

"You were actually a big help, Jewel," Mighty winked with a thumbs up. "Thank you."

"Oh, you're welcome," Jewel nervously waved. She extended her wings and took to the sky. "Goodbye, everyone. See you soon!"

Everyone waved the beetle goodbye as she took off into the sky.

"So, what's our next move, Commander?" Sonic asked the echidna.

Knuckles only had one answer. "Rest. Lots and lots of rest." _**(4s)**_

 _ **END OF CHAPTER 38**_

* * *

 _The battle has finally concluded. Angel Island is safe and Nocturne has been destroyed... but the Resistance had to suffer the lost of their dear friend, G-merl. Surprisingly, Cream allowed Synergy to keep Emerl's biodata chip instead of asking for it back. It's obvious she knows G-merl did what he had to do and she's thankful that Synergy will live on, honoring the legacy G-merl left behind. Not everyone in the Resistance sees it that way, but what can they do? Team Hooligan has marched off on their own, swearing that they'll never do anything like this again. The Resistance is going to need some rest after the final battle, but despite the climax ending, we still have two more chapters to cover. What will happen to the Resistance in the aftermath of Nocturne's fall? Find out in..._

 _"Chapter 39: Celebration"._

* * *

 ** _POST-A/N:_**

 _Originally, the climax was just going to be G-merl and Synergy taking on Imperator Ix by himself, but I decided to do something else. Since the theme of this story is family, I decided to have the Resistance band together to take down Imperator Ix. For anyone curious, No, that is not Imperator Ix's true super form, I just did that for the sake of being original. I was going to do his Super State from Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, but as I said, I wanted to do something different._

 _Killing off G-merl is a callback to how Emerl chose to sacrifice himself in Sonic Battle. I figured that since Emerl is a piece of G-merl, the latter would give his life away to save his family and give Synergy a family when he gets out of jail. But hey, we have to chapter left. Could G-merl be alive? Who knows?_

 _Ultimate G-merl is an actual Super State of G-merl and he was the final boss of Sonic Advance 3. Since G-merl has a Super State, I gave one to Synergy as well._

 _Team Hooligan was also supposed to be part of the ending in the next chapter, but I didn't think it would make sense for them to stick around and celebrate. They're the Hooligans. They don't live for this good guy crap. So, I decided to have them take off._

 _Response to Guest #1: I know, it was just a little joke in case someone DID think this chapter was called Part 5._

 _Response to Guest #2: Thank you so much for looking at the Sonic/Tails scene. I wanted to make it different to I Would Never Abandon You (another Sonic story I have) but also have topics that were discussed in that story._

 _Response to TheLostEternity: Poor Synergy went through the motions last chapter. Not only was he feeling guilty for what he did, but he learned that Imperator Ix cares about no one but himself. I'm glad you liked some of the references that were in Chapter 37. Sometimes, I forget which ones I make, lol! Knuckles and Shade kicked Ix to the curb, sometimes I forget Bean is a woodpecker in the canon games and is a duck in the comics, and the trio's conflict with Synergy made him think twice about his actions. Metal Sonic is a cool character to me. Originally, he wasn't supposed to be part of that fight, but I figured I'd send him on one last mission before Espio shot him down. Sometimes, Shadow can be unintentionally funny like he was in the Archie series. Something I've always liked about him. Who knows if G.U.N. will backstab the Resistance again? Change is a great song! I just had to use it! You're always welcome for your comments and everything else :). Take care of yourself._

 _That's all I have to say, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you all so much for reading the final battle. I had a lot of fun writing it because it made me think of IDW Sonic Issue 9-11 (Three of my favorite IDW Sonic Issues), and the final boss of Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood. Don't forget to R &R! I'm The Sensational SpiderDom321 and I'll see you all for the final two chapters. :)_

 _~SD321 (SpiderDom321)_


	39. Celebration

_**A/N:** After four to five chapters of fighting, the Resistance can finally relax and celebrate the life G-merl once had. The Gizoid have his life to save the others in the previous chapter. Imperator Ix and the Nocturnus Clan have been defeated, Dr. Eggman is in jail, and the world is at peace again. Let's see what happens to the Resistance as they celebrate a brand new day. This was the last chapter the Infinite's Ruby had the pleasure of editing. I would love to thank her for being by my side for this long. Now, let's not waste anymore time. Let's see what happened to the Resistance._

 ** _Suggested Music:_**

 ** _(1) Miss You - Sonic and the Secret Rings OST_**

 ** _(2) His Fate - Sonic and the Secret Rings OST_**

 _Without further ado, enjoy the penultimate chapter!_

* * *

 **Celebration**

The next morning opened on a positive note for Mobius, as the morning began with a television segment hosted by Brenda. The freelance writer from Spagonia was shown in front of the camera, sitting on a velvet red chair. She placed her sunglasses on her face and smiled in front of the live audience and the cameras surrounding her.

"I've come to make an announcement, Shadow the Hedgehog's a-wait a minute, this isn't the right script," she greeted, tossing the old script in the trash. "Welcome to my talk show, I'm Brenda: your friendly neighborhood freelance writer. Today…"

She took off her sunglasses. "I owe a huge apology to a certain team. That team is known as the Resistance. For a while now, I falsely accused them of being criminals because they were housing a wanted terrorist, but I never bothered to look at the real details. So, Commander Tower issued a statement and I quote…

" _While the Resistance_ _ **did**_ _house a wanted fugitive, they made up for their actions by providing a logical explanation for their actions. All they wanted to do was show a lost rebel what the world truly meant to them._ Isn't that touching? They also helped us combat the return of the ancient echidna city, Nocturne, and one of their proudest members: G-merl, sacrificed his own life for the fate of the world, the people, and his family. We owe our gratitude to G-merl and the Resistance, which leads me to my apology…

"Resistance, I'm sorry for harassing you with yellow journalism. I should have thought twice before I said all those things. You guys have done so much for this planet and I felt selfish for wanting to make myself look good. If there's a way we can start over, that would be nice. Thank you, Resistance. Keep on being way past cool!"

* * *

Aboard the Restoration Shuttle that sat on Angel Island, Tails typed on the computer and scanned for any sign of Chaos Energy. He assumed that G-merl would leave behind a trace of Chaos Energy, so that he could be tracked down and possibly located. But sadly, the fox's theory was starting to be proven false. He and Amy scanned the oceans a few times for any traces of G-merl; nothing was found. The fox sighed in frustration, as he rubbed his eyes.

"Tails, don't worry," Amy smiled. "If he's not out there, that's something we're going to need to deal with."

"I know, Amy," Tails replied. "I'm just worried about Cream. She must be so heartbroken."

Suddenly, Sonic, Cream, and Big entered the computer room.

"Permission to come aboard, Captain?" Sonic saluted.

Amy chuckled. "Permission granted."

"So, any luck on finding G-merl?"

"Nope," Tails answered with a saddened tone. "I looked everywhere for traces of Chaos Energy. I thought he'd leave some behind, but nope… we're just going to have to face the facts; G-merl's gone forever… I'm sorry, Cream."

"Don't worry, Mr. Tails," Cream spoke with a soft smile, patting the fox's hand. "It's okay."

"Cream, I gotta ask you something," the fox said again. "When you said those things to Synergy yesterday, did you mean it?"

The rabbit was silent at first before she shared a glance with her Chao. "Of course, I did. As G-merl said, we can't think of Mr. Synergy as a replacement. We just have to think of him as a new addition to the family. When he gets out of jail, Mr. Big, Mother, Cheese, Chocola, and I will be waiting for him. And plus, I want to honor G-merl's legacy by helping out more."

"I know he'll be okay," Big smiled. "I have faith in Synergy. And I want to help too."

Tails and Amy exchanged a glance.

"If that's how you feel, Cream… we respect that," Amy spoke with a smile.

Cream and Big shared a smile.

The fox's frown turned upside down.

Sonic cracked his fingers. "I hate to ditch you guys, but I'm gonna go out for a run. Everyone's leaving soon, so I'm gonna say goodbye while I can."

"See ya later, Sonic," Amy waved.

"Goodbye, Mr. Sonic," Cream and Big said at once.

"See ya," Tails winked.

Sonic got down in a running position. _This run's for you, G-merl._

 _ **ZOOM!**_

The Blue Blur took off at the speed of light. _**(1)**_

* * *

The fastest thing alive ran down the island until he reached Mushroom Hill Zone. The sun was shining, and a single cloud wasn't in sight. It was a beautiful morning in the zone and Sonic couldn't be any happier. There were no Badniks, no Marauders, no Eggman, no Starline, all that was there were the gorgeous environments and the sound of his two feet running. Jumping onto a set of mushrooms, the hedgehog took to the skies and slid down a tree as if it was a slide.

Sonic ran to the ground and boosted forward, running faster than normal.

Taking a breath of fresh air, the blue hedgehog felt the mild wind blowing against his fur. The temperature was humid for the most part, but the hedgehog was happy that there was some wind whisking against his cobalt blue fur. Closing his eyes and extending his arms, Sonic enjoyed such a fantastic day.

Nothing could possibly interrupt his run.

"Look, guys! There's nothing wrong with Honey and I dating."

Except for that.

Hearing the soft chuckle of Mighty the Armadillo, Sonic stopped and took a right turn down the path.

Emerging from the bushes, he saw that Mighty and Honey were being interrogated by Vector, Ray, and Charmy. Espio sat on a log by the bushes, meditating. He was awakened by the sound of Sonic chuckling.

"Good morning, Sonic."

"Morning, Espio. What's going on here?"

"During the fight on Nocturne, we discovered that Mighty's been in a secret relationship with Honey the Cat."

The blue hedgehog laughed. "Oh, my gosh! That's hilarious! Ray must be so peeved."

"He was more shocked than that. Vector and Charmy have been teasing them since breakfast. I have to admit, I too am curious about their relationship. But I wouldn't brutally tease them like Vector and Charmy are doing. Well, I'll make an innocent joke here and there, but nothing too offensive."

"You're too kind, Espio."

"You make that sound like it's a bad thing?"

"So, let me get this straight," Ray stroked his chin, pacing around the log Mighty and Honey sat on. "You two have been dating for a while and you didn't tell me, Mighty? That means you violated the Bro Code."

"Oh, snap!" Charmy chuckled.

"He's got you, Bro," Vector chimed in.

"Bro Code?" Mighty giggled nervously. "No, no, I didn't violate the Bro Code?"

"Wait, I'm confused," Honey folded her arms. "What's the Bro Code?"

"It's where Mighty and I tell each other everything," Ray replied. "We keep no secrets from each other. Since he kept his relationship with you a secret, that means he violated our code. Why did you do this to me, Mighty?"

"Ray, you know I never did this to hurt you," Mighty smiled, patting his best friend's head. "Really, I meant to tell you. It just never came up."

"But you should always tell your bros everything," Charmy said. "For example, Vector told me that whenever he's alone in the house, he dances in his underwear."

"Charmy, that's you that does that," Vector said.

"Oh… well, you get my picture."

"I'm really sorry, Ray," Mighty apologized humbly. "I should have told you later on. I guess the cat's out of the bag now. Ha-ha, see what I did there? Cat out of the bag?"

Honey glared at her boyfriend.

Mighty rubbed his head. "Sorry."

Sonic and Espio chuckled.

Mighty turned to the Blue Blur. "Let's change the subject. How are _you_ today, Big Blue?"

Sonic stretched his arm muscles. "Not too shabby, Mighty. Just checking up on everyone before they head out."

"How's Cream doing?" Ray inquired.

"She's good. She told me she wants to honor G-merl's legacy by helping out on more adventures. Big wants the same."

"Ay, good for her," Vector smiled. "I just hope my wife-I mean, her mama's cool with it."

Everyone blankly stared at the crocodile.

"What?" he shrugged.

"Anyways," Sonic continued. "Before I head out, Mighty, Ray, it was nice seeing you guys again. I know I called you up for the Sylvania Castle incident, but I'm glad you two came back. Thanks!"

"You're welcome, Big Blue," Mighty winked.

"See ya later, Sonic," Ray waved.

"Goodbye, guys," Sonic ran down the grassy lane. "Catch you on the flip side!"

With the hedgehog taking off like a light, the crocodile took a seat between the armadillo and the cat. "So, let's get serious. How long has this been going on?"

"Oh, if you must know," Honey smiled. "It's actually been two weeks-"

"Two months," Mighty said at the same time. The couple stared at each other before they blushed, giving nervous smiles.

"Okay," Charmy chuckled. "Let's try that again with less lying."

"Or," Espio smirked. "Do you two need time to get your priorities in order?"

" _Espio!_ " the armadillo shouted in annoyance.

Ray and the detectives shared a laugh.

Mighty rolled his eyes, as he and Honey got up from their seat.

"Hate to break up the banter, but Ray and I have to get going," Mighty said. "This world's not going to explore itself, y'know?"

"Aww, you're leaving?" Charmy frowned.

"Sorry, Charmy," Mighty patted the bee's head. "But Ray and I have to get going. We're travelers. We never stay in one place. Like Sonic, we go where our hearts take us."

"Just promise me you'll take me out before you leave," Honey flirted. "You owe me for coming to that big battle."

"Right," Mighty smiled, bestowing a kiss on his girlfriend's cheek. "Come on, Ray. Let's get moving."

"Safe travels, Mighty," Espio shook the armadillo's hand. "Keep in touch."

"I will."

As the armadillo and cat walked down the lane, Ray stayed behind. The couple stopped, seeing that the squirrel was sad. Sharing a glance, Mighty approached his best friend.

"Ray, are you okay? What's wrong?"

"Mighty," Ray rubbed his arm. "Can we actually stay with the Chaotix for a bit longer?"

The three detectives widened their eyes.

"You want to stay?" Mighty asked.

"Yeah," Ray answered. "I may not have known them as long as you did, but I grew close to them throughout this whole adventure. They've shown me kindness and they're really funny. Plus, I've always wanted to know what it's like to be a detective. If it's cool with you, can we stay a bit longer?"

The armadillo glanced at his former teammates and watched their smiles gaze into his eyes. With a soft smile, Mighty nodded and patted Ray's shoulder.

"Of course, Ray," he replied. "There's nothing wrong with catching up with old friends."

The Chaotix gathered around the new trio, shaking their hands and sharing laughs.

* * *

The next stop Sonic went by was Azure Lake Zone. Running past the ancient ruins, the hedgehog took a glimpse at the vast wilderness in front of him and increased his speed. As he circulated in a quick motion, he looked to the right and saw Tangle and Whisper chilling by the water's edge, admiring the lakeside. The blue hedgehog smiled and made a sharp U-turn, running towards them. From where he was, he could hear Tangle laughing loudly and Whisper laughing quietly.

"Hey, ladies," Sonic greeted. "About ready to head home?"

"Yeah! No! Maybe so!" Tangle replied. "I miss home and all, but this whole adventure has been awesome! I saved a town from two skunks, I helped locate a friend of yours, I met a former member of an ancient clan, _and_ I fought said ancient clan! This whole experience has been amazing, I don't think I can go back to my old life!"

" _Well, you know what they say,"_ Whisper chimed in. _"Home is where the heart is."_

"Oh, I also have to tell you, Sonic. Whisper here is a total riot! She just told me the funniest joke," the lemur nudged the wolf. "Come on, tell him the one you just told me. It was the one about the toaster! It was hilarious!"

Whisper chuckled softly. _"I wish I could, but I have to get going. I'm not going back to your town, Tangle, I'm moving off on my own."_ She took out the picture of the Diamond Cutters. _"I have someone I need to look for."_

Tangle nodded. "Right… I understand."

"I guess I'll leave you two alone," Sonic smiled. "Let me know when you're ready to take off. Whisper, thanks for coming with us. I know crowds aren't your thing, but I appreciate you coming along."

" _You're welcome,"_ the wolf shook hands with the hedgehog.

Sonic and Tangle exchanged a fist-bump before engaging in a friendly hug. "Tangle, you were just as awesome! I hope this isn't the last time we meet."

"Likewise. Maybe next time, you and I can race. I wanna see if you can run as fast as I can swing."

"Ha! I accept that challenge. I'll see you ladies later."

"Bye!"

" _Goodbye, my friend."_

As Tangle and Whisper waved goodbye, they watched the hedgehog leave and they turned to each other. The dynamic duo exchanged soft smiles.

"So… I guess this is goodbye," Tangle rubbed her arm. "I have to say, I'm glad to have met you. I know you and I didn't get off on the right foot at first, but I'm glad I was able to hear your story and become your friend. Well, I think of you as a friend, I don't know you if your feelings are mutual. It's not that I'm assuming they're not mutual, I'm just saying-"

" _Tangle, it's okay,"_ Whisper chuckled. _"My feelings are mutual. I apologize for being rude to you earlier… I've never had a friend since the Diamond Cutters. I always assumed everyone was there to stab me in the back… but you proved me wrong."_

Tangle smiled. "You know, I'm going to miss you. We should exchange numbers. You have a phone, right?"

Whisper shook her head.

"You got a house? We can send letters."

Whisper shook her head.

"Do you have… any living establishment whatsoever."

Whisper shrugged her shoulders.

"Well, we'll have to work something out."

Whisper chuckled. _"This has been fun."_

"Yeah, it's a shame Team Justice has to come to an end."

" _Who said anything about disbanding Team Justice?"_

Tangle gasped, feeling a light of hope run through her body. "Does that mean you'll take me on your adventure!?"

" _No."_

"Aww… so, what did you mean by that?"

The biscotti wolf glanced at her Wisps and reached for her cloak. She took out an object that the lemur gasp…

…it was a mask that looked like her's.

"What is that?" Tangle asked. Her eyes lit up with sparkles.

" _This was my old friend, Slinger's mask,"_ Whisper replied. _"We would use these to communicate with each other… I figured we could use them to communicate."_

"You mean… we can stay close?"

Whisper nodded.

The lemur gently took the mask from the wolf's hand and smiled. A tear flowed down her cheek. She wiped her eye and held out her hand, offering a handshake.

"Whisper… thank you."

But instead of shaking her hand, Whisper leaned in and hugged the ring-tailed lemur. The wolf held on tight, making sure she remembered this day during her travels. Tangle was shocked by this, but she couldn't help but smile. Wrapping her arms and tail around the wolf, she embraced her new best friend in a hug. It certainly was a heartwarming moment between the two of them. All of Whisper's Wisps joined in the hug as well.

Tangle and Whisper had their eyes closed, savoring their last moment.

* * *

Sitting on the top of the Restoration Shuttle was Silver the Hedgehog and Blaze the Cat.

The two of them sat alone, talking about their plans to return to where they came from. As they talked, Sonic jumped on top of the ship and jogged towards them. He got in the middle of their conversation.

"Are you sure?" Silver inquired.

"Yes, this is for the best," Blaze replied.

"Hey, guys," Sonic greeted. "Everyone should be leaving soon. Then again, Blaze, you could use the Sol Emeralds to get home. Silver, you can return to the future through… whatever process you use."

"You're right, Sonic," Blaze nodded. "My work is done, and the Sol Emeralds must be returned. But I shall say goodbye to everyone before I do so. I also want to pay my respects to Cream. I know she and G-merl were close."

"I may stay for a little longer," Silver replied. "I know that the Phantom Ruby War and this whole Nocturne thing is over, but I feel like something bad may happen in this timeline. Call me a pessimist, but I'm going to stick around a little longer."

Sonic wrapped his arms around both of his friends.

"Dang it, Silver," the hedgehog teased. "Don't be a Negative Nancy. This means we get to hang out more."

"Yeah, I guess you can say that," Silver chuckled. "If you want to put a positive spin on it."

"He always does," Blaze nodded. "By the way, what's a Negative Nancy? _**(1s)**_

Suddenly, a rainbow-colored portal opened beside the trio. Everyone jumped back and got into battle positions.

"You got to be kidding me," Sonic snarled, wiping his nose. "Don't tell me Imperator Ix survived."

Their worst fears didn't come true. Instead of the evil echidna or anything sinister popping out of the wormhole, Marine the Raccoon jumped through the portal with a magical artifact in her hand. It was the Jeweled Scepter: the key that controls the geological activity of the Sol Dimension. The orange raccoon jumped up and took out a wooden sword, ready to fight.

"Hi-ya! You all thought Marine the Racoon was gonna make _two_ measly cameos for this story, eh?" she laughed like a warrior. "Well, guess what? Marine's back for the climax! So, come on! Bring on the Nocturnus Clan!"

Marine waited patiently for bad guys to arrive, but nothing happened. She stood still before she turned to Sonic, Blaze, and Silver.

"G'day, guys," Marine greeted. "Where are the villains? I want a taste of the action!"

Blaze rubbed her head. "Marine… the fight's over. We won."

The raccoon's face went pale. "W-what?... What do you mean the final battle's over!? You're telling me this writer brought me in for the sake of a stupid cameo! Crikey! I can't believe he would do this to me! Let's see if I show up in another one his stories! This is ridiculous! Well, I outta show him!"

Blaze, with a nervous smile, kindly pushed Marine and the Jeweled Scepter into the portal. She closed it and wiped her hands.

"I apologize for that," Blaze said.

"Okay?" Sonic shrugged his shoulders. "I better say goodbye to Knuckles and Shade before we take off. See ya guys later."

"Bye, Sonic!" Silver waved.

"Goodbye, Sonic," Blaze kindly waved.

The blue hedgehog jumped off the ship and took off at the speed of light.

* * *

Meanwhile, at Shrine Isle, Knuckles and Shade sat on top of the Master Emerald. The wind stroked against their fur and they were soaking up the shining sun. The sky was bright and blue, and the duo was looking forward to rest and relaxation. Knuckles found himself taking a small nap whereas Shade stayed up and enjoyed the view of the island.

From where she sat, she could see all of the trees and almost all of the landmarks Angel Island had to offer. The orange echidna was relieved to be back with her old friends. Yes, she came back at a time where everything went to chaos, but she was happy that she forgave herself for what happened many years ago.

For years, she kept blaming herself for causing Dr. Eggman to raid the Metropolis while everyone else was in the Twilight Cage. The mad scientist even went as far as to torment her about it, which made her situation worse. But with the help of Knuckles and Elder Scruffy, Shade was back in the game. She chuckled at how loud Knuckles was snoring and leaned back, laying on her side. She watched the sleeping echidna sleep.

"Hey," Shade nudged Knuckles. "If you snore any louder, the Master Emerald's gonna start complaining."

"W-what?" Knuckles woke up from his slumber, registering Shade's joke. "Ha-ha, very funny," he said sarcastically.

Shade laughed, leaning back up. "So… what are you going to do now that the war is over? Dr. Eggman is in jail, Synergy's in G.U.N.'s custody, everything seems fine. What are you going to do?"

Knuckles leaned up too. "Well, unless if Dr. Eggman starts attacking again, I'm gonna stay up here and guard the Master Emerald. It's my duty, after all."

"Understandable."

"What about you? Going back to Windmill Village, I assume?"

"Yes, I will. The band needs me, and the scouts need me too. I can't leave those guys behind."

"Can't blame you," Knuckles smiled. "Listen, Shade."

The orange echidna turned to the red guardian.

"Ever since you left, I've been trying to call you," Knuckles continued. "I told you this, right? Well, when you came back, I've been wanting to ask you something," Shade became nervous. "I was going to ask you if you wanted to-"

"I'm sorry, Knuckles… but I can't."

"Hmm?"

"Knuckles, I consider you a close friend of mine. Yes, I did leave for many years, but I still held you close to my heart. But here's the thing, I don't think I can dedicate myself to a relationship. I think it will be troublesome for both of us. Plus, I'm part of a band and I'm a cub scout leader. I can't manage both of those _and_ a relationship. I'm sorry, Knuckles, but I can't-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Knuckles laughed. "That's not what I was going to say at all."

Shade widened her eyes. "Oh… then, what did you-"

"I was just going to ask if you wanted to hang out more often. It's been a while since we've seen each other. I thought maybe we can hang out one day and catch up with each other. Let me tell you, you missed a lot since you were gone."

Shade smiled. "In that case, I'd love to hang out with you. But why wait when we can discuss things now? Tell me something interesting."

"Okay, let me tell you about the time Sonic turned into a Werehog. Holy smokes, it was crazy. So, the story starts with-"

"Ahem!" the voice of the Blue Blur interrupted the conversation. Shade and Knuckles looked to the right and saw the hedgehog standing with his arms folded and his right toe-tapping. He had a heavy smirk on his face.

"Sonic interrupting the story," Knuckles finished.

"Sorry to ruin your date, lovebirds," Sonic chuckled. "Just thought I'd come here and see how you're doing. Hey, Shade, we're taking off soon. Are you coming with us?"

"I would," Shade replied happily, glancing at Knuckles. "But I want to stay here and catch up with an old friend. Maybe some time, I can catch up with all of you."

"That would be cool," Sonic said. "Hey, Knux. Are you gonna come back to Resistance HQ with us? G.U.N.'s helping us rebuild it."

"I'll see it when it's done," Knuckles yawned.

"Speaking of the Resistance," Shade chimed in. "What are you going to do about them? If you stay up here, do you plan on leading the remotely?"

Knuckles was stumped. "Oh, yeah… I took command, didn't I?"

A moment of silence struck the trio.

"Well, tell Amy it's hers," Knuckles smiled. "Even though the war is over and Imperator Ix's been trashed, there's still work to be done. Tell Amy she's the new commander of the Resistance."

Sonic nodded. "Whatever you say, Knux. I'll catch you two later."

"Whatever, get off my island."

Shade chuckled at Knuckles' remark. "Goodbye, Sonic. It was nice seeing you again."

"Likewise, Shade," Sonic winked. "Welcome home."

Running down the shrine's stairs, Sonic waved goodbye to the echidnas before he took off.

Knuckles and Shade sat together, resuming their talk.

* * *

Sonic arrived in the Restoration Shuttle's command center. From there, he saw Tails, Amy, Cream, and Big. He approached the four of them and patted the pink hedgehog on the shoulder.

"Hey, Ames," Sonic spoke. "Knuckles says the Resistance is yours."

Amy was stunned by that comment. "What?"

"So, Tails, ready to go?"

"Hold on a second, what did he say?"

"Sure am, Sonic," Tails smiled. "Let's take off!"

"Wait, Sonic," Amy tried to chime in. "What did Knuckles say?"

"Here we go!" Sonic and Tails said together, as the latter kicked the engines on and activated the ship's power supply.

* * *

From where Knuckles and Shade were standing, they could see the Restoration Shuttle taking off. Both echidnas jumped up on their feet and felt massive gusts of wind brush against them.

The Restoration Shuttle turned around before it slowly took off from the island. Within a split second, Angel Island was finally left at peace.

The only inhabitants were the two echidnas. Just the way Knuckles wanted it.

But before he could continue the story, he received a call from his Miles Electric.

Without looking at who was calling him, Knuckles pressed the answer button.

"Hello?"

The voice on the other side was Amy…

…an angry Amy.

" _ **KNUCKLES THE ECHIDNA, ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?**_ "

* * *

As the heroes moved on the get some rest, Dr. Eggman was trying to cheer up a depressed Dr. Starline. The platypus was a mixture of angry, depressed, and downright annoyed. He didn't expect the Synergy operation to blow up the way it did. He looked over at Dr. Eggman and shook his head, realizing that he wasn't working for a real supervillain. There was a saying that goes _Never Meet Your Heroes_ , it was obvious Dr. Starline didn't take that seriously. He rubbed his hands against his eyes, wondering how long it will take for him to get out of jail. In the meantime, Orbot and Cubot were playing rock, paper, scissors with Rough and Tumble. The skunk brothers kept losing. But the mad doctor was trying to lift the spirits of his lackey.

"Starline," Dr. Eggman smiled. "Starline."

The platypus wanted nothing to do with the doctor. He turned his back to him.

"Come on, Starline, we'll break out of this facility soon," Dr. Eggman continued. "We'll be out of here and we'll continue this Gizoid operation! Hopefully, our next Gizoid won't bring the Nocturnus Clan back. Hey, maybe we can use some of those Elemental Gizoids. We still have some left, don't we?"

Dr. Starline said nothing.

"Tell ya what, Starline," Dr. Eggman wrapped his arm around the platypus. "If we conquer the world, we'll party like it's 1999! We'll play video games, have karaoke dance parties, and we can drink lattes with steamed goat milk! It will be wonderful! You're my best lackey yet, Starline! Don't you want to rule the world with me?"

Dr. Starline slowly turned to the doctor, glaring at him with a death stare.

There were only two words that platypus said to his idol.

"I quit." _**(2)**_

* * *

In Floral Forest Village, Vanilla was cleaning the dishes when she heard the door open behind her. Grabbing a frying pan, she prepared to face any evil that came into her abode, but it wasn't anything supernatural, it was her own daughter, Cream. The young rabbit still had a saddened look on her face. Even though she wanted to honor G-merl's legacy, she was still heartbroken by the fact he was gone. The family didn't feel the same without him. She let out a low sigh and smiled at her mother.

"Hello, Mother," she greeted.

"Cream, Cheese!" Vanilla breathed with a sigh of relief. She and Chocola ran up to them and showered them with hugs and kisses. "Thank goodness you're safe. I knew you could do it."

"Sorry we didn't come home last night, Mother," Cream said softly. "We slept over at Angel Island with Mr. Knuckles. Although, Mr. Sonic kept kicking Mr. Knuckles in his sleep."

Vanilla laughed before she realized that one of her family members was missing. "Where's G-merl?"

Cream was silent during that question.

Cupping her hands together, she sighed lowly before she closed her eyes. "I'm sorry, Mother… I couldn't save him."

Vanilla gasped. She knew well what happened. From there, she pulled her daughter into the warmest hug she could give. All of her love and affection went into her. Cream hugged her mother back, slowly crying onto her shoulder. Cheese and Chocola looked at the rabbits with gloomy expressions.

"I'm sorry, Cream," Vanilla tenderly spoke. "I know it hurts now, but it will get better as time progresses. G-merl wouldn't want you to be sad, he would want you to remember him for the hero he was. And he would want you to carry on his legacy. He was never fond of seeing you cry."

Cream smiled at the encouragement and closed her eyes again. "Thank you, Mother. I'm going to make G-merl proud."

"Cream… you already did."

Releasing each other, Vanilla got up on her feet. "Here, as a celebration of G-merl's life, we'll go out and get some ice cream. Sound like a plan?"

"Yes, Mother," Cream nodded. "I would like that."

"Good. Just let me grab my wallet and we'll get ready."

"Okay."

The adult rabbit walked away to fetch her wallet and the young rabbit found herself lost in a picture frame beside her. It was a selfie of her, Vanilla, G-merl, Blaze, Sonic, and Tails. Picking it up, she smiled and held the picture close to her.

In a few seconds, she placed the picture back and went to take a seat on the couch, but as she walked away, something fell out of her pocket.

Cheese noticed the object and looked at it. He swooped down and picked it up. Flying towards Cream, he tapped her on the shoulder and handed her the object.

"Oh, thank you, Cheese," Cream gently took the item. "I didn't realize I had-"

After looking at the artifact once more, the rabbit realized that it wasn't just some item that fell on the floor…

…it was Emerl's biodata chip.

Cream suddenly gasped.

* * *

A few hours of the day went by and Tails found himself sitting in his workshop. He sat on his chair and let out a heavy yawn. Upon returning home, he was greeted to a robotic creature that looked like a canine/fox hybrid. Its name was T-Pup. The robotic dog jumped up on the fox's lap and licked his owner. Tails laughed and laughed, as he patted the dog's head and rubbed his ear.

"How are you doing, T-Pup?" the kitsune greeted the dog. "Down, boy! Ha-ha! I missed you too."

T-Pup jumped down when he sniffed something at the door. Barking loudly, he rushed over and started scratching the wooden door.

"Hold on, T-Pup!" Tails jumped up and ran towards the door.

Opening it up, T-Pup greeted the people behind it. They were Cream and Cheese. The latter screamed and hit behind the former's floppy ears, as the rabbit laughed and rubbed the dog's neck.

"Hello, T-Pup," Cream greeted. "Hi, Mr. Tails."

"Hi, Cream," Tails smiled. "What's up?"

"I'm sorry to trouble you, but I found something in my pocket."

"No, you're not troubling me at all. Come on in."

Closing the door, the young Mobians stepped inside the workshop. T-Pup jumped on top of the table, yawned, and took a nap.

"What did you find?" Tails asked.

Before he could finish his sentence, Cream showed him the chip she found. When he saw it again, the kitsune paused every part of his body. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped.

"Cream… is that?"

The rabbit nodded.

She handed the chip to him.

"Where did you get this?" he asked. "I thought Synergy had it."

"I found it in my pocket when I got home."

Tails stared down at the chip one last time, staring at the taped title he placed on it many years ago.

His shocked expression morphed into a smile. _**(2s)**_

 _ **END OF CHAPTER 39**_

* * *

 _Since there's only one more chapter left, I guess that means Tails plans to do something with the biodata chip, but what is he planning? I'm sure most of you know the answer considering it's pretty obvious. Anyways, Sonic and the others have taken off on their own whereas Knuckles and Shade stayed on Angel Island. What's going to happen if Tails tells the others about his plan. Find out in the conclusion of Awakened..._

 _"Chapter 40: A New Awakening"_

* * *

 ** _POST-A/N:_**

 _For anyone that supports the shipping of KnucklesxShade, I'm sorry to disappoint, but I didn't want that to happen. One, I don't see either characters being involved in a romantic relationship (same applies for Sonic, Shadow, Silver, Tails, Blaze, etc). Two, they don't share much in common aside from the fact they're echidnas. Just because they're the same species doesn't mean they have to date each other. Three, it would feel forced in terms of this story. In this tale, Shade has been MIA for years and she only came back to the group in Chapter 31. If Shade was part of the team from the beginning, there is a possibility I could have made her interested in Knuckles. But as a I said, I can't see her doing that._

 _IDW Sonic Issue #12 was a big inspiration for this chapter. Obviously, the Silver and Blaze scene is similar to their scene in the actual issue. The Tangle/Whisper and Chaotix scenes are different too. Originally, Shadow and Rouge were going to stick around with the Resistance and have a chat with Sonic, but I didn't want that moment to drag out the chapter. In that scene, Shadow would've said he admried Sonic for having compassion towards Synergy, and Rouge would've made a move for the Master Emerald with Knuckles and Shade chasing her._

Speaking of the Tangle/Whisper scene, that scene can kinda be interpreted as a way of setting up a Tangle/Whisper spin-off. Well, **my** own version of it to be precise. Since I'm more focused on original content (even though I have two stories on here to finish), I may come back and do some kind of Tangle/Whisper story that follows this one. Who knows? For now, I cannot confirm it will happen.

 _Response to Guest: If you're thinking Chapter 40's name is epilogue, then no, it's name is shown above._

 _Response to TheLostEternity: We're all devastated that G-merl is gone, but after seeing the ending of this one, we have to ask... **Is** G-merl dead? We'll have to see what happens in the final chapter. Super Chaos Battle is an awesome name and I thank you for liking the battle. Even though her brother is gone, Cream had to forgive Synergy for what he did since it wasn't his fault. The Hooligans had to go, it wouldn't be wise for them to stick around. Poor Omega. He'll get better treatment in Atom Bomb (thanks for your review on that, by the way) than he did here. Thank you again for your kind comments._

 _And that's all I have to say, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you all so much for reading the penultimate chapter. The final chapter shall be up soon. Don't forget to R &R! I'm The Sensational SpiderDom321 and I'll see you next time!_

 _~SD321 (SpiderDom321)_


	40. A New Awakening

_**A/N:** We're finally here: the true ending of Awakened. We shall see what happens with our heroes and what happens to Synergy. For the first time, a credits song suggestion will be at the bottom of the page. There will also be shout outs to people who have reviewed the story as well as a special dedication to my co-writer, Infinite's Ruby. Without her, this story wouldn't be the way it is. But we'll save that for the end, let's get on with the show, shall we?_

 _Also Response to TheLostEternity: I don't know for sure, but my settings my be hindering you from loading your comments. So, I fixed them just in case. If it was my settings, I apologize for angering you. But I am glad you loved Chapter 39. I may do a Tangle/Whisper spin-off when I get the chance, but for now, let's just get to the conclusion of this one. I hope you enjoy!_

 _ **Suggested Music:**_

 _ **(1) Green Hill Piano - Sonic the Hedgehog Movie (2020) OST**_

 _ **(2) All Hail Shadow - Shadow the Hedgehog OST**_

 _ **(3) Congratulations - Sonic Unleashed OST**_

 _Without further ado, enjoy the ending!_

* * *

 **A New Awakening**

 _~Synergy's P.O.V._

It's amazing how four months can pass by. One moment, you're paying for your actions by _going_ to jail. The next thing you know, you've just spent four months of your life as if they were nothing. In other words, they went by in a flash and I was amazed.

To recap, I was tricked by Dr. Eggman and Dr. Starline into thinking that the Resistance were my enemies. They've taken me in, even though I proved to be a pain in their rears and given me a new lease on life. They've shown me most of the world in three days. Gotta say, it's impossible to show someone half the world in three days, but they did it. They did an excellent job! Unfortunately, I was too stupid to realize that both doctors tricked me by showing me an edited video of my creators, The Nocturnus Clan, fighting against my friends. The clan acted like they wanted to return to Mobius peacefully when really, they wanted nothing more than world conquest…

…and I nearly helped achieve that goal.

With the power of all seven Chaos Emeralds, the Master Emerald, and the Warp Topaz, I was able to bring the city of Nocturne back to Mobius, where I merged it with Angel Island. It took the entirety of the Resistance and G.U.N. to thwart Imperator Ix's plans. I was on the losing side until I learned from my former master himself, that he could care less about the people. He only wanted to take over Mobius for his own _selfish_ reasons.

Things got down to the wire when Ix made a fake Chaos Emerald, unlocking an ultimate state.

I helped my friends defeat this monster, and I hoped I would make amends for what I've done by sacrificing myself. I wasn't sure how I was going to do so, but before I could figure it out, a friend of mine gave his own life away for not only his family's sake but for _my_ sake as well.

His name was G-merl.

For a while, I called him Emerl because that's what I used to know him as. But as time grew by, I realized that he wasn't the Emerl I once knew him as. He was someone better. Someone who wouldn't turn his back on anyone, someone with a heart of gold, someone who believed in me even when he had no reason to.

Even though Big and I shared the most interactions, G-merl played a huge role in making me the robot I am today. He and his best friend, Cream helped me understand the definition of humanity, and what it was like to live peacefully.

It's such a shame I threw that away when I brought Nocturne back.

But that was four months ago. Surely, everyone had to have gotten over it by now, right?

 _Urgh_ , what am I saying? That sounds selfish of me to say. I deserved to be locked in this cell after everything I've done. From attacking Soleanna to what I mentioned before, I needed to be held accountable for my actions…

…and I did that in four months.

Four months that I thought were going to be lousy, but they turned out better than I thought. I helped out a few guards apprehend a set of unruly prisoners, I had a therapist in the form of Rouge, Omega gave me a series of lectures about using my talents against Dr. Eggman's robots, and Shadow was able to share his backstory.

Turns out Shadow was a villain back then, one who was bent on dominating the world. But after remembering the promise he made to an old friend, he became the agent that he is today.

Even when I'm stuck in prison, I was able to learn more about people.

Unfortunately, I can't do it again. Why? Because today was my last day in G.U.N. custody.

As I sat in my cell, I was reading the same book that one student read to me in Spagonia. When I was there during my three-day adventure, I was able to read the beginning of the story. Now that I've been in jail for the past few months, I was able to finish the book. It was a fantastic read!

I never thought the story of a female chipmunk battling segregation could be such a compelling, nerve-wracking, heartwarming tale? I certainly learned a lot from it.

Inside my cell, I was reading my favorite chapter from the book when I suddenly heard the cell doors open. Assuming it was another fire drill, I lowered the book. Turns out, I was proven wrong.

Rouge the Bat leaned against the door, smiling at me.

"All right, Synergy," she said. "It's time for you to go."

"Already?" I inquired. "Guess time flies when you're reading a good book. Do you mind if I take this with me?"

"Technically, you're not supposed to, but I'll make an exception. Just don't tell Commander Tower… or Shadow for that matter."

I chuckled and got up from my rock-hard bed. Walking out the door, Rouge removed the shackles from my wrists and shook my hand. Together, we walked down the hall. As we walked, I glanced at some prisoners. I formed a friendship with some of them and waved goodbye, hoping they would change themselves for the better. Others, well, let's just say others wanted to rip my arms off.

As Rouge and I walked out of the prisoners' section, we approached Shadow the Hedgehog, who sat there waiting for us.

"Is he all set?" Shadow asked, unfolding his arms.

"Yep, he's ready to go," Rouge replied.

The ebony hedgehog turned to me, holding out his hand. "I never thought I'd say this, but you have been a cooperative prisoner. Stopping a few prison fights, reading books in your cell, keeping quiet at night, you've pretty much proven you can spend some time in here without going crazy."

I chuckled at that remark. "It made me wonder what would happen if Bean was in here."

"Trust me," Rouge tapped my shoulder. "You don't wanna know."

I wondered what she meant by that.

"Well, Synergy," Shadow spoke. "As Rouge said, it's time for you to go."

"Thank you both," I nodded. "Thank you for helping me see the error of my ways. I wish you could have been there during my world adventure four months ago. You would have liked some of my reactions to this world."

"I'm sure we would," Rouge nodded. "Now get out of here. Go have a family or something."

"I'm sure that Sonic and the others are waiting for you," Shadow shook my hand.

I shook my head at Shadow's comment. "Yeah, here's the thing, Shadow… I'm not ready to go back to them yet."

Both agents shared a confused glance.

"Then… where will you go?" the bat inquired.

"Trust me, I have a plan," I replied. "But first… I want to say goodbye."

* * *

 _~Synergy's P.O.V. (Continued)_

Two hours of my day went by and I was finally set free from Central City. I took to the skies until I landed safely in the Mystic Ruins. After exploring the jungle for a few minutes, I finally came across a familiar sight…

…Big's cabin.

The place I first visited when Sonic and Metal Sonic awakened me. Big fished me out of the water and helped me get back on my feet. Since then, he and I have been through a wild ride. He was the one who believed in me the most. Well, aside from Cream and G-merl of course. Speaking of the bulky cat, I watched him exit his house with a fishing rod in his hands.

He was going fishing like he always did.

But as he took a seat on his usual spot, he looked to his right and saw me approaching him.

At first, I thought he was going to hurt me, make me pay for what I've done. But instead, he jumped up and ran towards me with open arms.

"Synergy!" he called, as he embraced me with a tight hug.

Even though I don't have lungs, I felt crushed by his warm gesture, but I had to say, it was nice seeing him again after all this time.

I wrapped my arms around him until we finally let go.

"Y-you're free!" Big smiled.

"Yeah… yeah, I am," I replied.

"I'm glad you're out of jail, Synergy. I missed you while you were gone."

"How have you been, Big? Did I miss anything special while I was gone?"

"Nothing much, I've just been fishing and finding Froggy. I don't know how he does it, but he always manages to escape from me. I think he just likes to play around sometimes."

"I'm sure he does."

"I better tell everyone that you're back. That way, you can come to Cream's birthday today."

My eyes widened at that Cream part. "Cream's what day?"

"It's her birthday today."

"What's a birthday?"

"It's a special day where people celebrate the day they were born. There's usually a cake and lots of presents! I always love it when my birthday comes around. I get new fishing rods every year. Come on, Synergy, let's go to Cream's party! I'm sure everyone would love to see you."

As much as I would've liked to join the celebration, I knew I couldn't. I can't face everyone again, not after what I did. I rubbed my hands together and prepared to discuss my plan.

"Big…"

He stopped in his tracks. "What is it, Synergy?"

I nervously rubbed my arm. "I… I can't go to Cream's birthday party."

The cat frowned. "Why not? It's okay if you didn't get her a present."

"It's not that… I can't face everyone again. After everything that happened four months ago, I can't bring myself to see everyone again… that's why I'll be leaving for a while."

Big raised his ears. "You're leaving again? Are you going back to jail?"

"No, no," I said with a chuckle. "I feel that I haven't seen the world in its entirety, which means I don't have a full understanding of humanity. Yes, you and the others took me on a world tour, but that was only _half_ of the world. I feel that if I see the whole thing, I'll be able to get a better grasp of what it means to have a family and loved ones by your side. If I do that… I'll feel better about myself and I'll have the courage to see everyone again."

I paused, letting Big register my words.

"I'm sorry to leave you again, Big," I continued. "It's not out of disrespect, I swear… I'm not ready to see the others again… I hope you can understand."

As I lowered my head in shame, I expected the cat to lash out at me for leaving again. I could hear the voice of him yelling at me in my mind. I waited patiently for that moment to come true. But unexpectedly, the cat patted my shoulder and smiled down at me. I gazed into his yellow eyes and he gave me a soft chuckle.

"I understand, Synergy," he smiled and nodded. "You don't have to see everyone if you don't want to. The last thing I would want is to make you uncomfortable. If you want to go away for a while and see the world, then I support your decision."

If I had a mouth, I would let the biggest smile print on my face.

Opening my arms, I offered the cat one last hug before I said goodbye. He took it and we both embraced each other before it was time for me to leave. Believe me, I didn't want to do this because all I've been wanting to do was fish with my new best friend, but this was something I had to do. If I didn't do this, I would feel nothing but regret. I'm just glad Big understood my choice.

We finally let each other go after a few minutes and I activated my jet boosters, levitating upward.

"Tell everyone I said hello," I waved. "Sayonara, Big."

The cat waved back at me, "Sayonara, Synergy."

With one last farewell, I took to the skies, preparing to escalate on a new world tour.

 _~END OF P.O.V. **(1)**_

* * *

Moments later, friends of Cream the Rabbit were gathered outside her house at Floral Forest Village. The rabbit and her mother were shopping around town; Vanilla did this to distract the birthday girl, buying time for everyone to get set.

Vector, Espio, and Charmy placed the party banners on the top of the house.

Tangle, Big, and Blaze prepared the table with snacks and beverages.

Sonic and Knuckles were setting up the music station.

And Amy was making sure nothing was burning to the ground.

"Okay, party streamers?" Amy called.

"Check!" Vector called out. But he hit his finger with a hammer, trying to stick a nail in the house's roof. " _Yowch!_ My pinky finger!"

Charmy laughed and pointed at the crocodile.

Espio rolled his eyes, facepalming.

"Okay then," Amy scrolled through the list on her clipboard. "Sonic, Knuckles! How is the playlist going? You did remember to pick soothing music, right?"

"You mean, this?" Sonic asked, pressing the play button on the console. Out of two large speakers, heavy metal music played across the entire town. _**(1s) (2)**_

Everyone in the Resistance and some of the pedestrians shielded their ears, trying to get rid of that horrible sound. Even Sonic and Knuckles were bothered by it.

The only one enjoying the music was Vector. "Yeah! What a funky beat!"

"Turn it off!" Knuckles hollered.

Sonic kept mashing the stop button, but nothing happened. "I'm trying! Nothing's working!"

The blue hedgehog kept pressing the button and nothing was happening.

Everyone, except Vector, covered their ears.

Just then, Knuckles grabbed the console and snapped it in half. The music quickly stopped. _**(2s)**_

Sonic released his eyes, looking at a deadly glare from his self-proclaimed girlfriend. He nervously shrugged.

"Okay, that's a no on music," Amy rolled her eyes.

"It's a shame Mighty and Ray couldn't come to the party," Espio commented. "Same with Whisper, Silver, and a few others. This party feels empty, no offense."

"I'm surprised Shade's not coming," Sonic chimed in. "Where is she, Knux?"

"She's off with the cub scouts," Knuckles replied. "She said she wishes she could come, but she has work to do. But she did say she'll stop by later if she has the time."

"Speaking of stopping by," Amy looked through her list. "Where's Tails?"

The kitsune popped out of a tree near Cream's house. "I'm right here!"

The pink hedgehog was frustrated. "What are you doing behind that tree? You're supposed to be helping out with the decorations!"

"I'm sorry, Amy," Tails apologized, running towards her. "I'm working on a project. Don't worry, it's not for me, it's for-"

"Shh! Here comes Cream!" Charmy called.

"Oh, shoot!" Sonic gasped. "Everyone, get down! This is _not_ a drill!"

Everyone ducked below a hiding spot. Vector fell off the ladder he was on, but Espio dragged him to a nearby hiding place.

Vanilla and Cream walked towards their home, noticing a strange change in appearance. Cheese and Chocola shared giggles, as the latter walked forward.

But just when she least expected it, everyone jumped up and shouted, " _ **Surprise! Happy Birthday, Cream!**_ "

Vector blew on an airhorn, nearly blowing out Espio and Charmy's eardrums.

"Aww, you guys," Cream smiled, cupping her hands together.

Sonic rushed towards the cake, ignited a match, and lit the candles. He picked up the cake and everyone walked towards Cream. Before they could sing happy birthday, Tails ran in front and halted their progression.

"Wait, wait, hold on a minute, guys!" the fox called.

Everyone stopped in their tracks.

Tails turned to face Cream. "Before we do cake and presents, I want to take this time and give my birthday present to Cream. Cream, remember you gave me Emerl's biodata chip?"

The rabbit nodded.

"Well, I decided to put that chip to good use."

Tails ran behind the tree and came back in a split second. When he arrived, he was carrying something on a metal dolly. The object underneath was covered by a white sheet. Tails pushed it forward so everyone can see it. Stopping it, the twin-tailed fox smiled and motioned to the sheet.

"Ta-da!" he cheered.

Everyone was confused.

"You gave Cream a white sheet?" Vector inquired. "Not very creative, Tails."

"It's not just a sheet, Vector," Tails smiled. "It's something special."

Yanking the sheet off of the dolly, Tails revealed his glorious invention. Everyone's eyes widened and their jaws nearly dropped to the ground. Sonic, Knuckles, and Amy smiled heavily. Tangle geeked out with amazement. Blaze folded her arms and smiled. Big clapped and laughed. Team Chaotix smiled at the young rabbit. And Vanilla's eyes filled with tears of joy.

Cream was the most starstruck by this beautiful sight. She slowly walked forward, getting a good look at who was in front of her.

Tails stood to the side, allowing Cream to get a good look at…

…G-merl.

The black/yellow Gizoid stood still on the dolly. He was in shutdown mode, so he couldn't react to seeing his little sister after four long months. The Gizoid looked as good as new and he looked exactly like he did before. Nothing about him changed at all. He was the same G-merl as years prior. The twin-tailed fox walked towards the Gizoid, standing next to Cream.

Cheese hovered towards his best friend, smiling.

Cream finally made a move after standing like a stone sculpture. Nobody, especially her, could believe that G-merl was back to the way he was. And they all had Tails to thank for it. The kitsune danced happily, as he rubbed his hands together.

"What do you think?" Tails inquired.

Cream had trouble speaking. "Y-you… you fixed him. You fixed him, Mr. Tails. It's G-merl! It's actually G-merl! I can't believe you fixed him! Thank you, thank you so much, Mr. Tails!"

"Don't thank me yet," Tails chuckled. "Because it gets better."

Tails walked towards the back of the Gizoid, turning him on. "G-merl, awaken."

* * *

 _~G-merl's P.O.V._

"G-merl, awaken."

The first thing I saw was a digital sentence that read, _Rebooting Systems: Please Stand By_. Once those words went away, I was greeted to something strange. My eyes were looking at the soft, green grass below my feet and I was surrounded by faces… faces that I've never seen before.

Standing close to me were two humanoid animals. One was a young rabbit and the other one was a twin-tailed fox that looked to be around the same age as her. Behind them were other animals I've never seen before. Some of them look familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on it.

There was a blue hedgehog, a red echidna, a fuchsia chameleon, a green crocodile, a bumblebee, a ring-tailed lemur with a ridiculously long tail, a lavender cat, a large, chubby cat, and another rabbit that resembled the other one. Only this was one much older. And I don't want to be rude, but what animal is the pink girl with the red dress on? My systems scanned her and told me that she was a hedgehog.

Really? She didn't look like a hedgehog.

I looked around my environment, scanning my surroundings. I was in some sort of small, cozy village with houses that weren't too big, but weren't too small. I watched pedestrians go about their day and children play in the streets. Thankfully, they were supervised by their parents.

Where am I? What is this place? Who are all of these people sitting in front of me?

Suddenly, one of them spoke.

"Wow, Tails," the blue hedgehog wrapped his arm around the fox. "You really did it! You fixed him!"

Tails? Huh, I guess it makes sense for an animal with two tails to be called… well, Tails. Next thing, you know, the red echidna with the massive fists is gonna be named Knuckles.

"Knuckles," the blue hedgehog turned to the echidna. "What do you think?"

Wow, I meant that last comment as a joke.

"He looks amazing, Sonic," Knuckles patted the hedgehog's shoulder. "Tails, he looks exactly like he did before. What about you, Cream?"

Confused by who was who, I did a quick scan on everyone in the area, logging their names into my memory systems.

 _Tails, Knuckles, Sonic, Amy, Tangle, Vector, Charmy, Espio, Big, Vanilla, Cheese, Chocola._

It was weird doing this. Not because I didn't know everyone's name, but because these names sound familiar. I swear, I know these people, but at the same time, I can't remember anything.

The last person I scanned was the young rabbit, who was named Cream. Unlike the others, there was something about _her_ that I definitely remember.

"G-merl?" Cream inquired. "It's me, Cream. You're home."

Wait, what did she say? _Gemerl?_ Is that my name? How is that spelled? That made it sound like it was spelled as Gemerl, but it could also be spelled as G-merl. Which one was it?

"Hey, G-merl," Sonic waved. "Long time no see."

What a strange name to call someone. It's like if someone found a diamond, but they couldn't tell if it was a gemstone or an emerald, so they decided to call it _Gemerl_.

"Hello?" Tangle the Lemur approached me, poking the eye on my head fin. "Mobius to G-merl, are you in there?"

"Stand back, Tangle," Espio kindly pulled her back. "Give him some air."

"Does he not remember anything?" Blaze inquired.

From there, I watched the twin-tailed fox gulp.

"What's wrong, Tails?" Sonic asked.

"C-can I talk to you, Amy, and Knuckles for a sec," Tails nervously rubbed his arm. Sonic called his other two friends over and they entered a conversation. Even though they were whispering, I used my hearing systems to record the interlocutors. They were saying some interesting stuff.

"This is amazing, Tails," Amy smiled. "How did you pull this off?"

"Well, I raided the Final Egg a while back and stole a prototype E-121 Phi unit from Eggman. It was one of the ones he was using for the Elemental Gizoid project," Tails replied. "Cream found Emerl's biodata chip four months ago and I infiltrated the base the day after she gave it to me. Since then, I've spent the past four months rebuilding G-merl. The process was easy… but there was a catch."

The fox paused, which made the others curious.

"What happened?" Knuckles asked.

Tails released a low sigh. "When Cream gave me the chip, I noticed that it was slightly damaged during the fight with Imperator Ix. So, I did my best to fix it, but it _was_ a difficult process. I'm worried that the chip doesn't work, which would mean G-merl's in default mode."

"Default mode?" Sonic raised an eyebrow.

"It means G-merl doesn't remember anything. From his days as Emerl to the time I removed Eggman's programming from him, he won't remember anything… he won't remember us… I'm sorry, Sonic. I failed."

"Hey, don't blame yourself, little bro. We won't know until we try. Maybe he's just getting used to his environment. He'll remember Cream. Here, watch."

Sonic approached me and smiled. "G-merl, scan me. Who am I? Come on, I know you know this."

I scanned the blue hedgehog and replied. "Life Form Identification: Sonic. Species: Hedgehog. Height: Three Feet, Three Inches. Weight: Seventy-Seven Pounds. Alignment: Good."

The blue hedgehog raised an eyebrow. "Okay, that's not the response I was hoping for."

"G-merl," Cream chimed in. "Do you remember me?"

From there, I replied, "Name: Cream does not appear to be in this unit's systems. Please specify."

Everyone gasped.

Did I say something bad?

"Please specify mission command or log names into unit's systems," I continued. "Multiple life forms detected. All of them have the alignment of good."

As soon as I said that, Tails' face went pale and he gently faceplanted his hand into his face.

"No… no, no, no," The fox moaned. He felt bad about something, but what was it? He kept talking about stuff that I _should_ remember, but I can't. "I _did_ fail. He doesn't remember anything."

"Hey, hey, hey," Sonic smiled, trying to reassure the young kid. "It's not your fault, Tails. You did your best. The biggest thing you did was bring G-merl back. That's better than nothing, right?"

"Yeah, but I wanted to bring back the _real_ G-merl. Not… _this!_ " the fox leaned down to the young rabbit's level. All she did was stare at me. "I'm so sorry, Cream. You have every right to be mad at me."

The rabbit didn't look angry. Instead, she just blankly stared at me. I was about to ask if she wanted to place her first command into my system, but I was too distracted by her brown eyes. Her jaw was partially dropped, and she wasn't blinking at all. She hadn't made a move since she saw me. Her Chao, Cheese, wondered what was going on.

"Cream?" Amy asked.

Cream stared at me for a few more moments before she smiled, placing her hands behind her back.

"G-merl?" she said. "Would you like to hear your first command?"

"Affirmative," I replied. "What is your first command?"

"Follow me. I want to take you somewhere."

"Command accepted. This unit shall follow the life form known as Cream."

I stepped off of the metal dolly and followed the young rabbit down the village. I couldn't see it, but I can tell that everyone else was following us. We walked down the trail until we entered the forest. As we took a stroll, I could hear murmurs behind me.

"What the heck's going on?" Vector inquired.

"Where are we going?" Blaze added.

"How does he not remember anything?" Tangle questioned.

"Give him time," Espio replied. "He'll remember soon."

"First, let's see what happens here," Knuckles added to the chameleon's reply. "I'm curious about what Cream's up to."

We paced down the forest for a bit until we showed up near a beach.

A beautiful beach with crystal clear water, a sunny sky, and sand that felt as soft as a blanket. Normally, sand would have chunks of rocks, shells, and glass fragments that would send you to the hospital, but this sand was gorgeous. If I really wanted to, I would jump into it and make sand angels. Unfortunately, that wasn't in my programming. As I sucked in the environment, Cream took my hand and we walked towards the water. Part of me thought she was planning to drown me, whereas another half of me thought something else was going to happen. Cream and I strolled down the beach, feeling a tiny splash of waves against our feet. She took me down to the water and we both stopped. Everyone watched us from behind.

"I'm not sure if you remember," Cream smiled. "But this was the beach where I first found you. Mother and I were taking a walk down here before we found you. I didn't want to leave you all alone, so I took you to Mr. Tails and he rebuilt you. You were created by that mean Dr. Eggman, but thanks to Mr. Tails, you became a good guy."

The rabbit paused, letting me soak in the environment.

Now that she said it, this beach _did_ look familiar. The soft sand, the gentle waves of water, all of it seemed familiar.

"If you don't remember, that's okay too," Cream continued. "Mr. Tails shouldn't be mad that he couldn't bring your memories back. Just having you here makes this birthday more special. G-merl… even if you don't remember me, you'll always be my big brother."

 _Big Brother…_

 _Big Brother…_

 _ **Big Brother…**_

Hearing those words again, I was slapped in the face with a tidal wave of memories.

The first memory was me being created by the mad scientist: Dr. Eggman. I was an evil android sent to destroy Sonic the Hedgehog, but I failed and turned against Eggman by stealing the seven Chaos Emeralds. Then, I washed up on the beach after being defeated by Super Sonic and Eggman. Cream and her mother _did_ find me and took me to Tails' workshop, where I was rebuilt into a Freedom Fighter.

More memories popped into my head. Tea time with Cream, learning to ride an Extreme Gear, teaching Cream how to fight, going on adventures with Sonic and Tails, solving mysteries with Team Chaotix, sparing with Knuckles, and everything that I was involved in. But those weren't the only memories I witnessed; I remember things from my predecessor's data: Emerl. From the day Sonic first found me to the day I gave my life for my family.

And finally, I remembered everything that happened four months ago. Meeting Synergy, finding Shade, and using Chaos Control to fight the Nocturnus Clan.

I remember now…

I remember everything…

These weren't just strange animals…

They were my family.

My little sister was standing right next to me, still believing I didn't remember her. I had to do something to reassure her and fast! So, I got down on one knee, turning to Cream, letting out a soft chuckle. Surprised, Cream turned around and widened her eyes. Everyone else had the same expression.

"You wanna know something, Kiddo?" I spoke. As soon as I said _'Kiddo'_ everyone acted like I was a baby speaking my first word; they were happy. "That day… where you found me by the beach is my personal favorite memory of you and me. That was the day you gave me a second chance at life. You showed me what it feels like to have a family… one that I will always keep hold of. Thank you, Cream. Oh, and one more thing," I opened my arms. "Happy birthday, Kiddo."

Without thinking twice, Cream shed tears down her cheeks and jumped into my arms. She sobbed with happiness, as Cheese danced around my head, sitting on top of my head fin. Everyone else chimed in and started talking about how worried they were when I left them on Angel Island. Sonic and Knuckles told me how awesome I was fighting Ix, Tangle and Blaze shared stories about what they did after that event, the Chaotix told me they almost had a heart attack when I didn't remember anyone, Big, Tails, and Amy welcomed me home, and Vanilla gave me a warm hug.

"We're so glad to have you back, G-merl," Vanilla smiled.

"I'm glad to be home, Ma'am," I nodded. "Thank you… and thank _you_ , Tails."

The twin-tailed fox blushed, chuckling.

As we continued to celebrate, Big paused because he saw something in the distance. Something that made him smile. "Look!"

He pointed onward and we all turned around, amazed by the figure that found us on the beach…

…it was Synergy.

"No way," Tangle gasped.

"Synergy!" Big waved.

"H-hello," the green/blue Gizoid waved nervously. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

"You got out of jail?" Charmy inquired. We all approached him. "Did you break out?"

"No, no, I was released by Shadow and Rouge this morning."

"Wow, feels like yesterday you were arrested for your past actions," Vector folded his arms. "I can't believe four months went by."

"Yeah," Synergy said, turning to me. "G-merl, you're okay. I guess it's safe for me to say my plan worked."

"Plan? What plan?" Espio inquired.

To answer his question, I pressed a button on my chest and showcased the fact I had my Emerl chip inside of it. Everyone looked at it and then back at Synergy. Last time they checked; I gave it to Synergy so he could have a family. Upon looking at me one more time, everyone gasped. They realized what Synergy meant…

..well, everyone except for Charmy.

"I don't get it," he said.

Espio whispered it into his ear.

"Oh!... I still don't get it."

Vector and Espio facepalmed.

"What are you doing here, Synergy?" Big asked. "I thought you weren't coming to Cream's birthday."

"I changed my mind," the Gizoid answered. "I didn't want to be disrespectful and miss it. But I didn't realize G-merl would be here. Welcome home, my friend. I also wanted to share something with you guys. This may seem selfish of me to do, but I spoke about it with Big earlier. I need you all to listen to me." _**(3)**_

* * *

 _~G-merl's P.O.V. (Continued)_

As we walked by to Cream's cottage, Synergy told us about his game plan.

He wanted to go out and explore more of the world. We only showed him part of it four months ago, so he felt that if he saw more of it, he would get a better understanding of humanity and compassion towards others. As he explained, I could tell he was nervous. He felt like he was being selfish by saying this. Why did he think this way, I wasn't sure. But once he was done explaining, we all stopped by the cottage and he turned to all of us.

"That's my plan," he concluded. "I feel that this is a good plan for me, but if you all don't think so, then I understand. But this is something I _need_ to do."

We all exchanged the same glance before turning back to the Gizoid.

"I also wanted to apologize to you, G-merl," Synergy continued. "I know you gave me Emerl's chip because you wanted me to have a family, but the truth is, I wasn't ready to have one. Not after what I did on Nocturne… I couldn't look at you guys the same way I did before, so I did what I thought was right. I apologize for going against you, G-merl. If you don't forgive me, I under-"

"Dude," I stopped him mid-sentence. I slowly approached him and placed my hand on his shoulder. "You did what you needed to do, and I respect you for that. You've redeemed yourself; you saw the error of your ways. And helping Tails rebuild me was the nicest thing you could do for Cream and everyone else. I respect your plan, Synergy. Take as much time as you need to see the world."

"Let me just say it's a big world out there," Vector added. "Do you think you can handle it?"

"I _know_ I can," Synergy nodded.

"May your travels be as fortunate as Mighty and Ray's," Espio shook the Gizoid's hand. "We wish you nothing but the best."

"Bye, bye, Synergy!" Charmy waved. "Bring me back presents!"

"What's a present?" Synergy whispered to me.

"Good luck, Synergy," Tangle high-fived the robot. "Let me know if you see Whisper. Tell her I said hello."

"Keep in touch when you get the chance," Blaze smiled. "I'd love to hear about your discoveries."

"I said it before, but I'll miss you, Synergy," Big said.

"Thanks for helping us destroy Nocturne," Amy shook his hand. "You deserve your freedom, but don't hesitate to stop by Restoration HQ anytime."

"Restoration?" Synergy and I asked.

"Yep! Knuckles handed me the role as Commander of the Resistance, so I changed the name to the Restoration," the pink hedgehog smiled. "But in all seriousness, good luck, Synergy."

"You're gonna need it," Knuckles said.

"We'll see you soon," Tails winked.

"You know, I happen to go on a lot of runs around the world," Sonic fist-bumped Synergy. "Maybe we'll see each other. I've been wanting to challenge you to a race. I beat Tangle in a race a while ago, so I have a feeling I can beat you."

"He's lying," Tangle whispered to Blaze and Amy. "I won by a split second."

All three ladies chuckled.

"Goodbye, Mr. Synergy," Cream gave the Gizoid a hug.

"Goodbye, Cream," Synergy hugged her back.

Finally, it was just the two of us.

I held out my hand. "So long, Synergy."

Synergy nodded before he shook my hand. "Goodbye, G-merl. You have a wonderful family. Take good care of them."

"I will… will I ever see you again?"

"…only time will tell."

When our handshake concluded, Synergy activated his jet boosters and levitated upward. He turned around and got one last look at all of us. "Sayonara, everyone."

With one last wave, he took to the skies, going off on his solo adventure.

"Sayonara, Synergy," all of us said at the same time.

A moment of silence occurred, as we watched Synergy disappear from our sight. The guy was just like a kid, a kid who was all grown up and ready to see the world. We all watched him fly away before we turned back to the birthday party.

"All right, I'm starving!" Vector clapped his hands. "Let's eat some cake!"

Everyone chatted amongst themselves, as they approached the birthday table.

Everyone except for me.

Cream saw me watching the sky above me. She could tell that was I was concerned about Synergy's safety. He's proven that he can handle the world on his own, but with forces like Dr. Eggman, the Hooligans, and the Deadly Six running amuck, it makes me wonder how well he can handle those situations.

But I had faith in him. He'll be fine.

The young rabbit approached me and gently tugged my arm. "G-merl, are you coming?"

"Hmm?" I replied. "Yes. I'm coming, Kiddo."

Picking up Cream, I carried her in my arms and approached the table, ready to celebrate her birthday.

But before I sign off, let this be a lesson to all of you…

…no matter how lost you may be, you'll always have someone to guide you home. _**(3s)**_

 _ **END OF STORY**_

* * *

 ** _Suggested Credits Music:_**

 ** _Speak with Your Heart - Sonic Colors OST_**

 _And just like, it is done. I am astounded that Awakened has finally been completed after two years on FanFiction. It feels like yesterday, I was telling Infinite's Ruby about the dream that inspired this story. Yeah? I said all the way in the beginning that this entire story was inspired by a dream I once had. It was nuts! It's hard to believe that after shutting down my old account and starting over, I was able to overcome my struggles and get back on my feet. Would I consider this story perfect? Absolutely… not. This story obviously has some flaws within it such as the inclusion of the Babylon Rogues and Deadly Six in Chapter 24, I feel I could have gotten rid of them because they're in my other story: Sonic Heroes: The Atom Bomb. I also could have expanded upon some scenes and cut some other scenes out, but you know what, despite that, I am still happy with what I wrote. I know this ending is cliché, but hey, I wanted it to end on a warm-hearted note._

 _A big reason I wrote this story is because I wanted to show my love for Sonic the Hedgehog and pay homage to the good ol' days of Sonic Unleashed, Sonic Riders, Black Knight, and other games that had characters going through some character development and back when they had personalities. Not that I hate all of the characters' representations in today's generation of Sonic, but I feel they could use improvements (mainly Tails and Shadow). I also wanted to give some underrated characters/classic characters a chance to shine. Like Cream, G-merl, Mighty, Ray, and the Hooligans._

 _I've always loved Cream. She's a sweet, innocent rabbit who may be too young to fight, but she packs more than a punch. I was glad to see her represented in the current IDW Comics. But why wasn't she in Team Sonic Racing? Too young to drive, I guess._

 _I've also had soft spots for Mighty, Ray, and the Hooligans. Even though I grew up with the Post-Reboot Archie Comics, I like the personalities of the characters from the Pre-Reboot Comics. I may not have read a lot of them, but from what I've seen,_

 _Mighty has been seen as a pacifist who does help out in combat, Ray is a shy yet hyperactive squirrel with a stutter (hence his codename Jitters from Sonic Universe: Chaotix Quest)._

 _As for the Hooligans, they remained the same throughout both series. I really wish they could be in the current IDW Comics, but because of Iizuka's stupid two worlds crap, that won't happen. They weren't so strict about that during Archie. Why be so strict now? Is it because you don't want a Ken Penders 2.0? What power does he have over Mighty, Ray, and the Hooligans? I thought that dispute was over the echidnas._

 _Speaking of the echidnas, I've always had a soft spot for Shade and the Nocturnus Clan. I'm gonna get hate for this, but I never liked Julie-Sue and the Dark Legion. Dr. Finitevus is a cool character because of his design, personality, and powers, but that's about it._

 _Maybe this is because I've known the Nocturnus Clan before I heard of the Dark Legion, but I really like Shade. She could come back if it weren't for that lawsuit. But hey, what's done is done. I've been wanting to put Shade in this story since day one and I feel I did a good job with her characterization. I tried to make her have the brashness of Knuckles, the sense of justice like Shadow, and some of Sonic's sense of humor._

 _But what do you all think of Shade in this tale? Did I do a good job with her?_

 _Lastly, there's G-merl or Gemerl, as it's spelt in the comics. Man, I've always loved this guy ever since I beat Sonic Advance 3. Why? Because he is pretty much Emerl 2.0. Call me insane, but I've always liked G-merl more than Emerl. G-merl has more of a humorous personality in the Reboot-Archie Comics (having the personality of Shard the Metal Sonic), and I was more than excited to see him in the IDW Series._

 _Granted, in that series, he doesn't have a Emerl-like personality, but maybe that's a SEGA Mandate thing. I've always wanted to put G-merl in a Sonic FanFiction and I figured this one would be the perfect candidate. Yeah, he's in Sonic Heroes: The Atom Bomb, but this story is more centered around him than that story is. Did I do a good job with G-merl's personality? I researched a lot of Emerl scenes from Sonic Battle and read the comics he's in, so I felt I did good when it came to G-merl's character. Thankfully, Infinite's Ruby was able to help me with that._

 _Speaking of Ruby, I owe her a lot. She has been there for this story since day one and has edited nearly every chapter for the past two years. Thank you so much, Ruby. She also took the time to write her very own Post Author's Note for this story. Ladies and gentlemen, a word from Infinite's Ruby!_

 ** _Infinite's Ruby:_** "Well, there it is folks after a little over two years and three months Awakened has finally come to it's conclusion. Shortly after the first chapter was published, I was approached by SD321 who asked if I wanted to coauthor this story and after thinking it over for a while I accepted. Ever since then it's been a real honor just getting to see this story early by editing the chapters as I will say this right now.

Seeing how the story develops with Synergy's character growing slowly over the course of the story there have been moments that have caught me of guard, moments that made laugh and warmed my heart. You've come a long way when it comes to your writing as the moments between the characters felt genuine as I have vague memories of the first TAB and seeing how much Synergy's concept has changed was a great creative twist. One of the big things I greatly enjoyed is the fact since Sonic Chronicles the Dark Brotherhood never got a sequel thanks to Ken Penders this is a fantastic sequel to the Sonic Chronicles mostly because it fleshes out Shade's character development she never received within the canon universe.

With that being said I would like to thank TGN, Alexandria Prime, TheLostEternity SharpDragonKlaw, Ways, MelGamingPlays, The Burning Writer, starfiction123, stephanieeiche10, MysteriousGirl92, Ultimate anarchy, Turquoise Triangle, One Nutty Author, and Zoggerific for leaving reviews and overall just showing support for the story. We'd also like to extend a thank you to every single person who has left either a follow or a favorite or in some cases have both favorited and followed this story. That's all for now since this two year journey has come to an end. Both The Sensational SpiderDom321 and I thank you from the bottom of our hearts thank you for reading this story. We'll see you next time for our different story ideas respectively."

 _Well said, Ruby. It has been a honor doing this with you_

 _And now, a thank you to people who have reviewed._

 ** _TheGameNguyener:_** _Dude, you have been there for me since my struggles in 2018. Thank you for sticking with me for the past few years. You've done so much for me and I was more than happy to do the same for you. I've enjoyed your Sonic Forces rewrite as well as your Mario/Sonic Xovers. I am looking foward to the ending of Revengeful Resistance. I love the way your write Sonic and Tails in that story. Speaking of those two, I am happy you loved the Sonic and Tails scene from Chapter 33: Resistance Locked Up! That was scene was heavily inspired by Revengeful Resistance. Thank you for being here since Day One._

 ** _Infinite's_** ** _Ruby:_** _What can I say? You have done more for me than I can imagine. I had tons of fun exchanging ideas with you and I appreciate you editing almost every chapter in this story. If it weren't for you, this story wouldn't be as cool as it is now. It's all thanks to you. I've enjoyed your stories and I would love to write another story with you someday._

 ** _SharpDragonKlaw:_** _Much like TGN, I appreciate you sticking around since the first day. Thank you so much!_

 ** _Alexandria_** ** _Prime:_** _Even though I haven't heard from you in a while, I remember you telling me that you've gotten some cases of Writer's Block after your latest Sonic story. Just to let you know, I will always be there to help and I know what it's like to feel the dreaded Writer's Block. But no matter how bad it may be, there's always some form of inspiration waiting to give you an idea. I want to thank you for the support you've given to this story. And I know you loved how Bean was especially. I loved that dude!_

 _ **TheLostEternity:**_ _You have been here since Chapter 30 of Awakened. I want to thank you for looking at every single chapter of this tale as well as Sonic Heroes: The Atom Bomb. Your comments always make my day and I am always happy to see you geek out over funny, action-packed, emotional stuff that happens in the story. Thank you so much for sticking around for this long._

 ** _Ways:_** _I apologize for not looking at your Sonic Forces rewrite for a while. I was dealing with some college activities as well as other personal things in my life. But with that said, I want to thank you for checking this, Sonic Heroes: The Atom Bomb, and Superstar Adventure: A Mario Odyssey Rewrite. I am looking foward to the next installment of your Sonic Forces story._

 ** _The Burning Writer (formerly Mr. Meme), One Nutty Author, starfiction123, MelGamingPlays, Zoggerific, Guest, MysteriousGirl92, wavyinterlude, TurquoiseTriangle, and Ultimate anarchy:_** _Even though some of you have reviewed more than once and some of you just reviewed once, I was happy to hear your thoughts on the story._

 _And this is where it ends, folks. I gotta say, it sucks to say goodbye to this story. Ruby and I had a lot of fun writing and I had tons of enjoyment writing down scenes, dialogue conversations, battle scenes, and emotional moments that progress character development. But all good things have to come to and sooner or later. It's better to end it here rather than drag out the story and make it stupid. We wouldn't want that to happen, would we?_

 _Lastly, I would like to thank everyone who left positive reviews and constructive criticism. With over **13,000 views, 169 reviews, 29 favorites, and 29 follows,** it warms my heart to know that this story is getting all the love and support it has. Thank you all so much for reading. Don't forget to R&R! I'm The Sensational SpiderDom321 and I'll see you all for my next project! Peace out, web-heads!_

 _~SD321 (SpiderDom321)_


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